-Asad Umar blast at Britain for not accepting WHO-approved Chinese Vaccines
-Questions ‘health considerations or hangover of a colonial mindset?’
-NCOC announces Schools to resume normal classes from Monday across Pakistan
By Asghar Ali Mubarak
ISLAMABAD: Reacting to the United Kingdom’s decision to not accept Chinese vaccines and placing Pakistan on the “rest of the world” list, Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar Thursday slammed the changes made by the UK government in its travel advisory.
Umar wrote on Twitter: “The UK decides gora certificates and vaccines are okay but most non-gora vaccine certificates and Chinese vaccines are not. This despite widespread evidence of fake certificates in the US and Europe.”
The minister highlighted that Chinese vaccines are approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Health considerations or hangover of a colonial mindset?” Umar raised the question as the UK government decided not to include Chinese vaccines in its list of UK-approved vaccines.
On Wednesday, the UK updated its COVID-19 travel rules. Pakistan is now on a new “rest of the world” list, and is not on the list of the countries whose vaccination certificates are recognised in the UK.
Pakistan was removed from the red list and was placed on the amber list on September 22 with several other countries, but in the latest travel advisory, the UK said it was working with Pakistani authorities to recognise the vaccine certificates issued by National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA).
According to the changes, Pakistani travellers should follow these rules: Take a PCR test within 72 hours pre-departure; Self-isolate for 10 days on arrival, or test to release on day 5; Book day 2/8 PCR tests and complete a passenger locator form.
However, once the UK authorities recognise NADRA’s vaccination certificate, Pakistanis, who are fully vaccinated, will not have to self-isolate or take a pre-departure test, although they will still have to complete a two-day test and fill in a passenger locator form. COVID Vaccines recognized UK are: Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson.
Meanwhile, China’s Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines are approved by the WHO but these are not approved by the UK government.Meanwhile, The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on Thursday announced that all educational institutions would start “normal classes” from October 11 (Monday).
The decision was made during an NCOC meeting held earlier in the day, where the forum agreed to reopen educational institutions based on the reduced level of disease spread and the launch of the school vaccination programme, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said in a tweet.
Educational institutions were earlier operating on 50% capacity across the country after they had reopened following intermittent closures due to the prevalence of COVID-19.
The NCOC, in a statement, said that the country reported 1,453 cases in the last 24 hours, taking up the positivity ratio to 2.82%, while 46 people lost their lives to the virus. The country has posted as many as 1.25 million coronavirus cases, 28,032 deaths, and 1.18 million recoveries from the pandemic, the forum said. Pakistan has administered a total of more than 87 million vaccines, with 31 million second doses and 62 million first doses, according to the data shared by the NCOC.
