After Vaccination, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan Positive For COVID-19

Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan. (Wikimedia Commons/Chatham House)

JAKARTA - Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan tested positive for COVID-19 after the results of a test he passed after receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

This statement was made by the Government of Pakistan on, Saturday 20 March. However, it is hoped that this will not be an obstacle for Pakistanis to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Pakistan's launch of vaccination has met with widespread skepticism about the vaccine. And Prime Minister Khan's positive test could be a setback for mass inoculation efforts in a country of 220 million people, health experts said.

Pakistani Health Minister Faisal Sultan tweeted that Prime Minister Khan was self-isolating at home. Meanwhile, a close assistant revealed that Khan had a mild cough and fever. Meanwhile, his Senior Aides stressed that Khan was likely infected before being vaccinated on Thursday 18 March.

While it is not clear which vaccine the prime minister gave the prime minister, the one produced by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) is the only one available in Pakistan.

"Khan expressed concern after his positive test result could prevent ordinary people from being vaccinated, his adviser Shahbaz Gill told local television.

Asad Umar, the minister in charge of handling COVID-19 in the country, said in a tweet on Twitter that he believed Khan was infected before vaccination".

"So please do vaccination", added Umar.

Vaccine hesitation is common in Pakistan. This is because the country is one of the two countries in the world that is endemic to polio. After all, it also opposes the polio vaccine.

Khan's positive result comes at a time when new infections are on the rise, while doubts about China's COVID-19 vaccine are also high in opinion polls among health workers.

The Pakistani government announced, with the addition of 3,876 positive cases on Friday-Saturday, the highest number since July 2020, bringing the positive cases in Pakistan beyond 620,000. Meanwhile, the death toll from COVID-19 in that country reached 13,799 people.