Chughtai Lab eyes Sputnik V doses for commercial sale
LAHORE: Chughtai Lab will soon receive Russia's Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine for commercial sale, a company official said on Sunday, making Pakistan one of the first countries to market shots privately as it scrambles to secure supplies. Despite concerns over fairness and higher prices, Islamabad agreed this week to allow the commercial import and sale of vaccines without price caps, in contrast to most countries, which are importing and administering vaccines through government channels.
"We are told the first shipment is expected within the next week," Chughtai Lab director Omar Chughtai told Reuters, adding it would be receiving several thousand doses. He also confirmed the news on Twitter. Pakistan's decision to allow private sales of vaccine without a price cap in a lowerincome country of 220 million people faces criticism.
Former special assistant to the prime minister on health Dr Zafar Mirza, while praising government efforts to procure and distribute free vaccine, said that avoiding a price cap for private sales "will deepen inequality in society at a time when there is a need to have widespread coverage". The government launched a vaccination drive this month with 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by longtime ally China. But aside from the donated Chinese doses, Islamabad has not completed any deals to buy vaccines.
Sputnik V is one of four vaccines approved for emergency use in Pakistan, in addition to those by China's Sinopharm and CanSinoBio, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot. Chughtai Lab aims to import the others as well, but Sputnik V was the first to become available, Chughtai said.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan told Reuters in a message he was "not directly aware" of the deal. Chughtai declined to specify import costs or prices but said the price would "appear inflated" compared to what has been reported for Sputnik V globally, given the smaller volume it was planning to sell relative to global procurement.