ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON   -   Country witnessed highest positivity ratio of Covid-19 in Karachi followed by Peshawar, and Mirpur in Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) while the overall nationwide positivity rate has been recorded at 4.45 percent.

According to the latest figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the national positivity ratio in the country has been observed at the rate of 4.45 percent while the highest positivity ratio has been observed in Karachi with 11.39 percent followed by Peshawar 9.72 percent and Mirpur 9.62 percent.

According to the details, 2218 Covid-19 patients are in critical condition across the country and the number of critical patients is rising fast. The positivity ratio in AJK has been recorded at 11.11 percent, followed by Sindh 6.71 percent, Balochistan 5.02 percent, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 3.87 percent, Punjab 3.85 percent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 2.39 percent and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) 0.32 percent.

According to the province wise details, the positivity rate in Bahawalpur has been observed at 4.32 percent, Faisalabad at 4.18 percent, Lahore 5.73 percent, Multan 2.06 percent and Rawalpindi 0.4 percent — all cities of Punjab.

In Sindh, the positivity rate in Karachi is 11.39 percent and Hyderabad is 6.89 percent. In KP,

It is 3.11 percent in Abbottabad, Peshawar 9.72 percent and Swat 1.89 percent.

In Balochistan, it is 5 percent in Quetta, and in ICT, it is 2.39 percent.

In AJK, it is 9.62 percent in Mirpur.

As many as 279 patients are on ventilators across Pakistan including one in Gujranwala, two in Faisalabad, seven in Bahawalpur, eight in Rawalpindi, 27 in Multan and 92 in Lahore. In Karachi, 77 patients are on ventilator. In Peshawar, 37 patients are on ventilators and 28 patients are in Islamabad.

The mortality rate has been observed at 69 percent in males and 77.9 percent over the age of 50 years while 74 percent have had chronic comorbidities. As many as 91 percent of deceased remained hospitalized and 58 percent of hospitalised patients remained on ventilator, according to the data.

Separately, the NCOC yesterday was apprised that the provinces have almost completed the training of the staff of teaching hospitals, and tehsil and district headquarters’ hospitals regarding Covid-19 vaccination for swift inoculation of the vaccine.

The NCOC meeting with National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamooduz Zaman Khan in chair discussed update from the provinces on positivity ratio and critical data, non-pharmaceutical interventions’ (NPIs) implementation, preparations for vaccine inoculation and national vaccine strategy.

In their briefing to the NCOC, the provincial chief secretaries as well as health secretaries besides that of GB and AJK informed that all necessary measures were being taken prior to the availability of coronavirus vaccination.

The chief secretaries also informed the forum about the steps being taken to ensure standard operating procedures (SOPs) and NPIs implementation.

They also briefed about the positivity ratio in their respective provinces and cities with higher positive cases.

The forum was told that a large number of fines had been imposed while restaurants, shops and business centres had also been closed for not complying with the SOPs.

The NCOC also reviewed overall situation of coronavirus in the county. The forum was informed that all foreign travellers especially from UK and South Africa were being tested at the airports. Those tested positive for coronavirus were being quarantined.

The forum also discussed in detail the complete procedure of vaccination, its availability in time, distribution process and most demanding areas where it can be used at the earliest.

The NCOC also stressed for purchasing of the quality of vaccination to ensure successful treatment of Covid-19 patients. The government would keep the record of vaccinated persons even those who travelled from abroad, the NCOC was told.

Meanwhile, US biotechnology firm Moderna on Monday said lab studies showed its Covid-19 vaccine remains effective against variants of the coronavirus first identified in the United Kingdom and South Africa.

But the positive news was tempered by the finding that there was a sixfold reduction in the level of highly-potent neutralizing antibodies produced against the South African variant, B.1.351.

Out of caution, the company will test adding a second booster of its vaccine -- to make three shots in total -- and has begun preclinical studies on a booster specifically for the South African variant.

“We are encouraged by these new data, which reinforce our confidence that the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine should be protective against these newly detected variants,” said Stephane Bancel, Moderna’s CEO.

“Out of an abundance of caution and leveraging the flexibility of our mRNA platform, we are advancing an emerging variant booster candidate against the variant first identified in the Republic of South Africa into the clinic.”

 Akiko Iwasaki, a leading virologist from Yale, tweeted: “This is good,” adding that she expected other vaccine makers were also developing boosters that target the South African variant.

 But Lawrence Young, a virologist at Britain’s Warwick University, said the sixfold reduction was a matter “of concern” and suggested vaccine efficacy as well as duration of protection could be impacted.

 He added it was difficult to read too much into data that had been presented from a limited number of samples and only thus far as a press release, not a scientific paper.

The emergence of highly contagious variants to the SARS-CoV-2 virus had triggered concern about their impact on the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines even as countries begin to accelerate their immunization programs.

Both the B.1.1.7 variant first seen in the UK and the B.1.351 variant have multiple mutations along the “spike protein,” molecules that dot the surface of the virus and allow it to invade human cells.

Scientists have been particularly worried that the mutations on B.1.351 would lead to the virus escaping the action of antibodies, and render the current generation of vaccines obsolete.

Moderna’s vaccine uses mRNA -- a type of genetic molecule -- to deliver the information for human cells to create the spike protein inside the human body, in order to trigger an immune response.

A booster for B.1.351 would therefore carry the mRNA that creates the spike protein with the mutations that are specific to the variant.

A major advantage of mRNA vaccines is that they can be developed in a matter of weeks, even though producing them to mass scale may take much longer.

The global vaccine race took another hit Monday as Merck announced it was halting work on two Covid-19 shots, including one being developed with France’s Pasteur Institute, after they found the immune response was inferior to other vaccines.