Lahore/Quetta/Karachi/Peshawar (Staff Report/Agencies): The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pakistan rose to 403,311 on Wednesday after 2,829 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country during the last 24 hours.
Overall, 175,642 cases were reported in Sindh, 120,356 in Punjab, 47,701 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 17,215 in Balochistan, 30,748 in Islamabad, 4,667 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 6,982 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).
According to the government's Covid-19 portal, the death toll related to coronavirus has reached 8,166 with 75 fatalities reported during the last 24 hours.
Over the last twenty four hours, total number of recovered COVID-19 patients across the country reached 345,365 after another 2,029 virus recoveries were reported.
Meanwhile, the federal government has approved a grant of $150 million to procure Covid-19 vaccine.
This was announced by Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Fasial Sultan who was talking to media following the federal cabinet meeting on Tuesday.
He said the criteria that have been set out for the procurement of coronavirus vaccine included the efficacy, level of safety and cold chain requirements among others.
The SAPM said that the government will tap the several options for the purchase of vaccine and also consider the production capacity of the firm to ensure smooth supply in the country.
“For this purpose, a few pharmaceutical companies have been shortlisted, contacted and initial conversation has been started with them,” Dr Faisal said.
It is pertinent to mention that the global coronavirus cases have reportedly surpassed 63.7 million and death toll tops 1.479 million.
