ISLAMABAD    -  Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Saturday that the government had approved purchasing of coronavirus vaccine and it would be available in March.

In an interview with a private television channel, he said the government has given approval of “AstraZeneca”, vaccine while discussion with a Chinese company, "Sinopharm" is also under progress.

Asad Umar said the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has given green signal for importing the vaccine to protect the masses from corona virus.

He said priority would be given in provision of vaccine to health workers and the people falling between 60 and 65 year of age. He said around three hundred thousand healthcare workers have been imparted training for anti-corona vaccination. Replying to a question, the minister said private sector can import the vaccine after following the necessary procedure.

Islamabad’s coronavirus tally has risen to 40,019 after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported 131 new cases in the capital on Sunday morning.

The city also reported six more fatalities during the past 24 hours, taking the total death toll to 456. As many as 43 more people died of coronavirus while 2,521 new Covid-19 cases were reported across the country during the last 24 hours, the NCOC reported on Sunday.

According to the latest statistics, there are now over 34,700 active cases of coronavirus in the country. More than 473,000 people have so far recovered from the disease.

According to the NCOC, during the past 24 hours, Azad Jammu and Kashmir recorded 23 cases and three deaths, taking the caseload to 8,606 and the total number of deaths to 241. Gilgit Baltistan has not reported further infections or fatalities for the 5th consecutive day on Sunday. Punjab recorded 734 new cases of the coronavirus, up from 535 a day earlier. The provincial tally of infections now stands at 149,222. Punjab also confirmed 22 more deaths, taking the total number of fatalities to 4,409.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Covid-19 case tally has risen to 63,339 after 343 more infections were detected in the province, according to the Coronavirus portal. The province also reported six more fatalities, taking the provincial total of deaths to 1,779.

Meanwhile, Balochistan has recorded 32 new virus cases. The provincial tally has reached 18,569. According to the government’s database for tracking the spread of the Coronavirus, 1,540 more people have recovered from Covid-19 in the country. The total number of recoveries reached 473,639 on Sunday.