Islamabad may be Pakistan's first city to reach herd immunity

• Islamabad likely to become first city to achieve ‘herd immunity’
• Islamabad's positivity rate is still high.
• But experts have said that once herd immunity is reached, the number of cases will decrease considerably. 

ISLAMABAD: The federal capital may become the country's first city to reach the "fully vaccinated" status amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, The News reported Thursday..

The Pakistan government has set vaccination targets for 24 large cities by the end of September. The target for partial vaccination is 60% and 40% of the eligible population will be fully vaccinated.

Around 35% of the eligible population in the country has received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, the publication reported, citing the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). A break up of this showed that Islamabad is at 69%, Azad Kashmir 51%, Gilgit-Baltistan 39%, Punjab 37%, Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa 35%, Sindh 32% and Balochistan 12%.

So the statistics place Islamabad's vaccination status far ahead of other cities and now only 31% of its population is yet to get the coronavirus vaccine.

All the eligible population of Islamabad is expected to be vaccinated against coronavirus in the coming months if the vaccination process continues at the same pace, the publication reported.

Islamabad's positivity rate is still high, but experts have said that once herd immunity is reached, the number of cases will decrease considerably.