Pakistan to send special plane to China to receive first tranche of anti-COVID-19 vaccine
Islamabad, Jan 30: Pakistan will send a special plane to China on Sunday to bring back the first batch of the 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine that Beijing has promised to provide to its close ally.
The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), during a meeting here on the strategy of vaccine administration, said on Saturday that the country is geared up for the vaccination programme.
The forum was apprised that a special plane will fly to China tomorrow (Sunday) for transportation of the first tranche of vaccine, according to a statement from the NCOC.
The move comes after Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi on January 21, following a call with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, had announced that China will provide 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan by January 31.
He said that Beijing had asked Islamabad to send an airplane to get the vaccines.
Pakistan has approved two foreign anti-COVID vaccines as of now, including the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, for emergency use in the country.
All necessary measures have been put in place for vaccine storage at Islamabad and distribute the vaccine to various federating units particularly to Sindh and Balochistan provinces, the statement said.
The vaccine nerve centre has been established at the NCOC with provincial and district level vaccine administration across the country for vaccination in a systematic manner, it said.
Pakistan plans to provide vaccines to frontline health workers and elderly people in the first phase.
Meanwhile, a senior Pakistan minister said that the country would get up to 17 million doses of anti-coronavirus vaccine in the first half of this year.
Asad Umar , who is the minister for planning, in a tweet said that the vaccine would be provided by Covax, which is an alliance set up in April last year by Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organisation.
Good news on COVID vaccine front received letter from Covax of indicative supply of up to 17 million doses of AstraZeneca in 1st half 2021, said Umar.
He also said that about 6 million will be received by March with delivery starting in February, he added.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 543,214 after 2,179 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the ministry of National Health Services.
Another 65 patients died in this period, taking the number of COVID-19 deaths to 11,623 while some 2,111 patients were in a critical condition.
Also, 498,152 people have recovered so far, which means that the number of active patients was 33,439. The authorities performed 41,435 tests in the last one day. It showed that the positivity rate was 5.25 percent.
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Her willingness, consent all that matters: HC on Punjab woman's plea for abortion
Chandigarh (PTI): It is the willingness and consent of a married woman that is all that matters, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has observed, while allowing a petitioner to undergo abortion without her husband's consent.
The direction came on a plea moved by the 21-year-old petitioner from Punjab, seeking permission to terminate her pregnancy in its second trimester.
The petitioner had submitted that she got married on May 2, 2025 and had a turbulent relationship with her husband.
In the previous hearing, the court had issued directions to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) to constitute a medical board to examine the petitioner.
According to the medical report, the woman was medically fit to undergo MTP (medical termination of pregnancy).
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According to the December 23 report, there is a single live intra-uterine foetus with a gestational age of 16 weeks and a day, with no congenital malformation.
"Patient has symptoms of depression and anxiety for the last six months, (and) has been undergoing treatment with minimal improvement. She is severely distressed about her pregnancy amidst divorce proceedings. It is recommended that she continues to undergo her psychiatric treatment and counselling. She is psychologically fit to consent," the report of the medical board said.
A bench of justice Suvir Sehgal said it is evident from the report that according to experts, the petitioner is in a fit medical condition for the termination of her pregnancy.
The sole question that requires to be considered is whether her estranged husband's consent is required before such termination, the court observed.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971, does not provide for an express or implied consent of the husband, it pointed out.
"A married lady is the best judge to evaluate as to whether she intends to continue with pregnancy or get it aborted. Her willingness and consent is all that matters," the court noted.
It said according to the medical report, the gestation period of a foetus is less than 20 weeks and falls within the maximum period prescribed under the Act.
"This court, therefore, does not find any obstacle in permitting the petitioner to undergo abortion. In view of the above, it is directed that petitioner is eligible to get the pregnancy terminated from respondent No.2 -- PGIMER -- or any other authorised hospital," the order passed on December 24 said.
"Let the petitioner, within the next one week, get the medical termination of pregnancy from PGIMER, Chandigarh, or any other authorised hospital, which must take due care and precaution while conducting the procedure," the court added while disposing of the plea.
