A woman received the first shot of the Sinovac at a centre in Karachi. File

Gulf Today Report

Federal Minister and Chairman of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar said on Tuesday that the target set for vaccination of one million Pakistani citizens in a single day was achieved, making strides in its inoculation campaign just weeks away from a deadline for employees in public-facing roles to obtain jab.

In a tweet, the minister wrote, "I am pleased to announce that our goal of vaccinating 1 million people in a day has been exceeded.

In an another tweet, Umar praised the work of the federal and state governments to vaccinate people while the number of infections rose.

The federal minister also shared that 50 per cent population of Islamabad has been vaccinated with at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Pakistan announced last week that from the end of August, staff in schools, shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, public transport and airlines would be barred from entering public offices unless they had a certificate.

The surge in coronavirus infections caused by the highly contagious variant of the Delta has put tremendous pressure on Pakistan's poor health infrastructure.

Out of a population of 220 million, more than 31 million have received one vaccine shot, but only 6.7 million have been fully vaccinated, according to the NCOC.