Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Friday has announced that two Chinese companies — CanSinoBIO and Sinopharm– are being contracted to buy more vaccines against the coronavirus as Pakistan has kicked off its phase-wise vaccination campaign.

The minister further says that the first consignment of the vaccines will reach Pakistan on March 25 while the second consignment will be received on March 30.

According to the minister, the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) will hold a meeting on coming Monday to discuss the worsening situation of the infection in the country.

“The government can take strict measures if COVID-19 positivity ratio remains same in the country,” Asad Umar warns as he advises people to strictly follow COVID-19 SOPs.

Pakistan is alarmingly facing the third wave of the coronavirus as it has reported 3449 new positive cases and 40 new deaths in the past 24 hours with positivity ratio exceeding 8%.