ISLAMABAD, DECEMBER 31

Pakistan's planning minister says his country has achieved a goal of fully vaccinating 70 million people by the end of 2021.

The announcement Friday comes as Pakistan has recently stepped up its vaccination campaign as the new omicron variant spreads.

Planning Minister Asad Umar took to Twitter to thank the health workers who worked to meet the goal.

Since last year, Pakistan has administered 155 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, fully vaccinating over 70 million in the South Asian nation of about 220 million people. It brings the vaccination rate to 44%.

Pakistan so far has mostly relied on Chinese vaccines, though it also has received millions of doses of vaccines under the COVAX scheme.