Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Thursday said that from August 1, unvaccinated teachers will not be allowed to perform their duties in schools as government cannot endanger lives of children.

Addressing a press conference along with Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan, Asad Umar said that a lot of people are still not taking the virus seriously and urged people to get vaccinated.

Asad Umar, who also heads NCOC, said that Sindh government is taking every possible step to curb the spread of virus but government cannot shut down entire country to fight the pandemic. We don’t want to affect livelihood of anyone and every effort will be made to keep the economy open, he added.

NCOC head further said that from August 1, only vaccinated people will be allowed to travel by air in the country and from August 31, unvaccinated staff will not be allowed in transport sector.

He further urged people associated with law enforcement agencies, transport sector, markets, hotels and restaurants to get vaccinated against the virus to avoid any further restrictions.

The Minister for Planning said these steps have been taken to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people. He said the world recognizes Pakistan s efforts for dealing with the pandemic. As regards the vaccination, he was confident that Pakistan will emerge as an example in the world.

Asad Umar said that about eight hundred and fifty thousand vaccine doses were administered last day. He said our target is to cross the mark of one million doses in a single day.

SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, who was also present during the session, said that critical care cases, which were less than 2,000 in June, have surged past 3,000.

He said that the pressure on health facilities across the country has increased considerably during the last few days as the infection rate has spiked.