Pakistan gets doses

A PAKISTAN military aircraft brought back the country’s first consignment of Covid-19 vaccines from China on Monday (1), the country’s health adviser, Faisal Sultan, said.

“Thank God, the first batch of Sinopharm vaccine has arrived! Grateful to China and everyone who made this happen,” Sultan said in a statement on Twitter.“I salute our frontline healthcare workers for their efforts and they’ll be the to get vaccinated,” he said.

Pakistan has asked China for another million doses. It has also been pledged 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine under a global scheme to deliver coronavirus treatments to developing nations.

About six million doses will arrive by the end of March under the Covax scheme, with the remainder due by mid-year, Sultan said last week.

Pakistan reported 1,220 new infections and 63 more deaths (as Eastern Eye went to press on Tuesday (2), taking the total number of cases to 546,428, with 11,683 deaths. “All eligible citizens as per phases will be informed to register once the vaccine process will start,” the health ministry announced on website.

Pakistan signed up last year to the vaccine sharing scheme coordinated by the World Health Organization to support lower-income countries.

Pakistan has approved both the vaccines for emergency use and will review their approval quarterly, officials said. The Russian Sputnik-V vaccine will also be approved for emergency use.