Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has said that it has emerged that coronavirus cases of the new variant Omicron are “the highest in Karachi, especially in school-going children”.

He said that the cabinet was given a briefing regarding the Omicron situation in the country during which it was told that the total number of cases in the country has now crossed 5,000 — a 2.5-fold increase in cases.

A 30% increase in admissions to intensive care units has been witnessed, Chaudhry confessed.

Citing the importance of vaccinations, he said Omicron has shown “negligible effects” on people who are fully vaccinated (having received two doses) and those who have received booster shots.

“And where there have been no vaccinations, the effect is very pronounced,” the minister said.

Chaudhry said that Sindh lags behind the most in terms of vaccinations.

He said the government had spent $2 billion on the import of vaccines, and the major portion of the current account deficit comprises imports of medicines, including vaccines for coronavirus.