The Ministry of Public Health said on Monday that 1.5 million doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine will arrive from the US next week amid a pause in COVID-19 vaccinations in the country. 

Nearly 980,000 people have been vaccinated so far, but the process has stopped as the China-provided vaccines have ended for those who should get the first dose. 

The government will purchase at least 5 million doses of vaccine, a spokesman for the ministry said. 

“I came here with my family to get vaccinated. It was my second dose,” said Ghulam Sakhi, a Kabul resident.  

“The only way is to get vaccinated--to not have any concern,” said Idris, a Kabul resident.  

Moreover, concerns have grown around the government’s fight against COVID-19 as the health ministry on Monday announced that black fungus cases have increased to seven in Afghanistan. 

“It will arrive at the beginning of next week. The remaining 1.5 million doses will reach us 10 days after the first batch,” the Public Health Ministry’s spokesman Ghulam Dastagir Nazari said. 

The ministry said that over $100 million will be allocated for the purchase of vaccines and that the number of those who get the vaccine will reach 10 million. 

“People are now more interested in vaccination as they have realized it is necessary,” said Wadoodullah Noori, a doctor. 

Meanwhile, Pakistan's embassy in Kabul said that it has made effective arrangements for around 4,000 Pakistanis stranded in Afghanistan--due to the closure of flights to Saudi Arabia--to return via Torkham. 

The Ministry of Public Health on Monday reported 1,485 new positive cases of COVID-19 out of 4,238 samples tested in the last 24 hours. 

It also reported 77 deaths from COVID-19 and 834 recoveries in the same period.   

The number of total recorded cases is 127,464 and the total deaths is 5,360, according to figures by the Public Health Ministry.   

The number of recoveries has reached 75,314.

Figures by Johns Hopkins University show that the number of deaths from COVID-19 globally is more than 3,977,937 and the number of known global coronavirus cases is 183,828,135.