Pakistan gets US supplies, 1m doses of vaccine to fight Covid

Critical health supplies airlifted by the United States, through US Agency for International Development (USAID), arrived on Saturday to help save lives, stop the spread of Covid-19, and meet the urgent health needs of the country.

The airlift to Pakistan contributes critically needed and requested emergency medical supplies, including personal protective equipment, pulse oximeters, and other supplies.

USAID will complement these supplies with technical assistance on their use and maintenance.

“Today, the United States continues our proud partnership with the government of Pakistan in our fight against the Covid-19 pandemic,” US embassy’s lesslie Viguerie said.

“Throughout this struggle, we have worked together to provide resources and relief to those suffering and to help those on the frontlines of this pandemic. Pakistan is not alone in its fight against the coronavirus.”

Meanwhile, one million more doses of Covid-19 vaccines have been flown in from China, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said on Saturday.

The shipment arrived in Islamabad on board a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight, it said.

The NCOC said another 11 million doses of China’s Sinovac, Cansino and Sinopharm vaccines will be brought to Pakistan this month. It said all-out efforts are being made for mass vaccination with uninterrupted supply of vaccines being ensured across the country. It urged citizens to follow precautions and get themselves inoculated against Covid19 on a priority basis.

Pakistan has so far received 11,475,300 doses of Covid-19 vaccines from three countries. The country received stocks of vaccines developed by five companies, including Sinovac, Cansino, Sinopharm, Pfizer and Astrazeneca.

The first shipment of Covid-19 vaccine had arrived in Pakistan from China on February 2, whereas, Beijing had also gifted 1.72 million doses to Islamabad. 1,339,020 doses of vaccine were provided to the country by Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (Covax). Pakistan has gotten 1,238,400 doses of Pfizer vaccine from Covax.