Pak PM Imran Khan Tests COVID Positive After First Dose of Vaccine

Khan is said to be self-isolating at home.

Imran Khan, Pakistan Prime Minister.

(Photo: BloombergQuint)

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for COVID-19, the country's health minister said on Saturday, 20 March, two days after the PM got his vaccination.

Hours after the news surfaced, PM Narendra Modi tweeted, wishing his Pakistani counterpart a speedy recovery.

Khan is "self-isolating at home," said minister Faisal Sultan in a tweet.

Khan received the first shot of the China-made vaccine Sinopharm on Friday amid increasing COVID-19 cases.

The vaccination drive in Pakistan is currently underway for senior citizens. Recently a batch of 5,00,000 doses was received by Pakistan from China.

Earlier this week, Pakistani authorities had placed more coronavirus hotspots under lockdown and warned people to take caution as the country witnessed the highest number of new daily infections this year amid a poor response to the vaccination drive.

Pakistan last week announced that spread of the more contagious British strain had triggered a third wave of the pandemic, closed schools, and reintroduced some restrictions in the densely populated cities, reported news agency DPA.

"We now think the situation is heading to worse (sic)," said Asad Umar, a federal minister who is leading the country's response to the pandemic.

(With IANS inputs.)