Pakistan opens coronavirus vaccinations for people over 30

• Messages for those who are being scheduled to go out today.
• Pakistan had opened the registration for the age group on May 16.
• The country has, so far, inoculated more than 4.9 million people.

Pakistan on Friday decided to start inoculating people above 30 years of age beginning tomorrow as the country aims to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination drive.

The decision was made by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) in a meeting today, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said in a tweet.

"The messages for those who are being scheduled will go out today," the federal minister added.

The development comes only five days after the country had started registering people who are 30 years and above for the coronavirus vaccination.

The country, since the beginning of the vaccination drive in February which first opened for healthcare workers, has inoculated more than 4.9 million people, with 211,475 jabs being administered in the last 24 hours.

A digital portal has been launched by the federal government for registrations through which a code is assigned to a person. They can then go to a designated vaccination centre and get a jab.

People can also message their CNIC number on 1166 and get themselves registered for the vaccine.

People over 18 seeking to travel abroad can get vaccinated

A day earlier, the NCOC had announced that people over the age of 18 can now get themselves vaccinated — however, only under certain circumstances.

If people above 18 years fall under the categories mentioned below, they can simply walk into any coronavirus vaccination centre, show a valid visa, and get vaccinated, the NCOC said.

• Pakistanis working abroad on a work visa;
• Students studying abroad; and
• Seafarers.

The decision was taken as several countries around the world, incorporations, various employers, universities, shipping companies have made vaccination mandatory, the NCOC said.