Pakistan approves Russian vaccine for ‘emergency use’
The government has given a go-ahead to a local pharmaceutical firm for the import and distribution of the Sputnik vaccine; Pakistani origin Russian scientist ‘invents cure for coronavirus’
The Pakistan government has approved Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for “emergency use authorisation,” an informed official has confirmed on Sunday.
The government has given a go-ahead to a local pharmaceutical company for the import and distribution of the Russian-developed Sputnik V emergency use authorisation.
The Sputnik V has become the third vaccine to be approved for emergency use in the country — the first one being the Oxford UniversityAstrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine and the second one by Chinese state-owned firm Sinopharm.
In a meeting conducted by the registration board of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap), another vaccine has also been given EUA (emergency use authorisation), which was developed with the backing of Russian Development Investment Fund, he said.
Last week, the Drap authorised the Oxford University-astrazeneca COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in Pakistan. A couple of days later, the regulatory body approved Chinese state-owned firm Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, the second shot to be given approval for use in the country.
Sputnik V is the world’s first registered vaccine based on a well-studied human adenoviral vector-based plaform, said the information available on the Sputnik V website. It currently ranks among top-10 candidate vaccines approaching the end of clinical trials and the start of mass production on the World Health Organisation’s ( WHO) list.
The ongoing Sputnik V post-registration clinical trial in Russia involved 40,000 volunteers, the website said and added that clinical trials of Sputnik V had been announced in the UAE, India, Venezuela and Belarus.
Last week, Hungary became the first European Union (EU) country to approve the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine for public distribution. A short time later a Gulf country also announced the same decision making it 12th country outside of Russia which have authorised its use.
The official said Russia’s state-owned SputnikV has developed a double-dose vaccine, which is administered by syringes.
A local pharmaceutical AGP had been authorised as the sole importer and distributor of the Russian vaccine.
The development comes as Pakistan’s overall coronavirus caseload has increased to 532,412 as of Sunday, while the death toll stood at 11,295.
Earlier, as struggle to get coronavirus vaccine gained momentum globally, Russia offered to supply its Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs received a leter to this effect along with data on the vaccine’s clinical research and trials from the Russian embassy in Islamabad. The Foreign Ministry sent the vaccine offer to the National Health Services ( NHS) for further process.
In a separate development, Pakistani origin Russian scientist Professor Dr Jan Alam has introduced a mineral-based medicine for the treatment of coronavirus, Russian media reported on Sunday.
The medicine is based on nanotechnology and is named Minerolytevir, which is a fith generation medicine that has been registered by the Drug Regulation Authority of Pakistan (Drap).
Speaking to media persons at the National Press Club, Jan claimed that the medicine is free from side-effects and is completely safe for human beings. He maintained that the medicine can also be used by a day-old child.
“A patient diagnosed with COVID-19 can be cured within 10 days by using this medicine. Patients on ventilatory support can be saved by using it through nebulisation. Just one mist of spray on the face and other body parts saves a person for three to four hours in these crucial days of the pandemic,” Dr Jan stated.
The Russian professor mentioned that he is the first scientist in the world to have invented a medicine for the treatment of coronavirus and claimed that numerous patients who had used his medicine had been cured, both in Pakistan as well as in Russia.
Alam requested the government to introduce his medicine in government hospitals to save precious lives. He highlighted that he had invented 20 medicines including that for the treatment of cancer.