Coronavirus vaccine sceptics playing with human lives: Chairman CII

• "The coronavirus situation has taken a dangerous turn," says Chairman CII Qibla Ayaz.
• People should be fully aware of the threat the virus poses, he says.
• His comments came after at least 70 more people succumbed to coronavirus.

The Council of Islamic Ideology Chairman Qibla Ayaz said Monday that those who are sceptical about the coronavirus vaccine — or those casting aspersion on the vaccines — are playing with the lives of people.

Ayaz, along with other scholars, held a press conference and said that the third wave of coronavirus is more dangerous than the first and second ones.

"The coronavirus situation has taken a dangerous turn. People should be fully aware of the [threat the virus poses]," the CII's chairman said.

The chairman, reminding people that Islamic laws preach taking safety measures, said taraweeh could also be prayed at home.

He appealed to the citizens to follow the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) during their religious practices and called for action, in accordance with the law, if the safety measures are violated.

The CII chairman added that people should refrain from visiting places that are possible super-spreaders of coronavirus. 

"Avoid taking children to the mosques, refrain from shaking hands, and hugging, as saying salam is enough."

Pakistan’s coronavirus tally crosses 800,000 mark

The CII chairman's comments came after at least 70 more people succumbed to coronavirus, taking the nationwide COVID-19 death toll to 17,187, while over 4,800 new infections were been reported across the country.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data showed 50,161 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, from which 4,825 tests returned positive.

The positivity rate of coronavirus in Pakistan stands at 9.61% as of today (Monday) whereas the number of active cases stands at 89,219.

The new cases have taken the national tally of positive cases to 800,452 with 285,542 reported in Punjab, 290,788 in Sindh, 114,077 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 72,613 in Islamabad, 21,743 in Balochistan, 16,591 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and 5,258 in Gilgit Baltistan.