'Ignorant people are stopping others from getting vaccinated': Ashrafi

• "The vaccine does not contain contents that violate Islamic principles," says Ashrafi.
• The ulema have already issued fatwas regarding the vaccine, he says.
• People should get vaccinated and save their loved ones from coronavirus, says Maulana Khabir Azad.

Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Maulana Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said Monday ignorant people are stopping others from getting vaccinated against coronavirus.

Ashrafi, speaking to the media, said the coronavirus vaccine "does not contain contents that violate Islamic principles," as he appealed to the masses to get themselves inoculated.

"The ulema have issued fatwas regarding the vaccine and are repeatedly urging people to get themselves inoculated," he said, adding prominent clerics have also received the vaccine.

Meanwhile, Chairman Central Reut-e-Hilal Committee Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad also appealed to people to get vaccinated.

"People should get vaccinated and save their loved ones from the coronavirus," he said.

Cases continue to fall

The number of daily coronavirus cases continued to decline, with 1,490 people testing positive for the infection in the last 24 hours, as per data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday.

The country did not report a single critical-care patient with the virus over the past 24 hours.

Pakistan conducted a total of 49,285 tests for the virus out of which 1,490 positive results were obtained. The positivity ratio stands at 3.2%, the lowest since Feb 27.

This is the seventh consecutive day that Pakistan has reported a positivity rate below 4%, with data indicating the third wave of the virus is on the decline as the country expedites vaccination campaign. 

The NCOC, in the latest statics, revealed that as many as 8.2 million vaccine doses have been administered so far, with 255,006 being inoculated in the last 24 hours.