Pak to get 2.5m doses of Moderna vaccine
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to receive 2.5 million doses of the Moderna vaccine from the United States, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki has said.
The shipment is part of President Joe Biden’s commitment to play a leading role in ending the coronavirus pandemic all around the world, she said.
Last week, the US president had announced his plans to allocate 75 per cent of unused COVID-19 vaccines through the Un-backed Covax global vaccine sharing programme.
Of the first tranche of 25 million doses, the White House says about 19 million will go to Covax, with approximately 6 million for South and Central America, 7 million for Asia, and 5 million for Africa.
Meanwhile, it was reported that citizens, who want to go abroad, are in trouble because of shortage of Astrazeneca vaccine doses.
A number of such people have been visiting coronavirus vaccination centres for three weeks to get vaccinated, but in vain. They have also protested against the authorities concerned.
A week ago, the health department informed the citizens that the vaccine would be shortly available. Officials said the process of vaccinating the general public was underway, but the Astrazeneca vaccine and Sputnik V would be available next month for the people desirous of proceeding abroad.
Earlier, Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department (PSHD) Secretary Sarah Aslam and her team visited Expo Vaccination Centre Lahore and inspected the vaccination stock. She issued orders to ensure timely supply of vaccines.
She also inspected the mega ILRS Ultra-cool Chains System, which maintains a temperature of minus 18 degrees or below for the storage of Russian Vaccine Sputnik. Expo Vaccination Centre has an abundance of Sinopharm, Cansino, and Sinovac vaccines, she said.
Aslam said that baseless reports regarding the shortage of Sputnik Vaccine should not be believed and more than 50,000 doses of Sputnik Vaccine would be delivered to Punjab this week.
The issue of Astrazeneca vaccine for citizens living abroad is under consideration with the federal government. A special grievance cell has also been set up at the Expo Centre for resolving complaints and issues related to vaccines. As many as 669 vaccination centres have been set up in Punjab including 58 centres in Lahore while more than 200 mobile vaccination centres are also operational.