World is taking Indian vaccines but Pakistan is seeking vaccine from China

Pakistan received its first batch of COVID-19 vaccine doses, from China’s Sinopharm, on Monday. A Pakistan military aircraft brought back the country’s first consignment of COVID-19 vaccines from China, the country’s health adviser, Faisal Sultan, said.

China’s envoy in Islamabad formally handed over the 500,000 doses of vaccine produced by Sinopharm on Monday, enabling Pakistan to begin its vaccination drive this week, officials said.

The country has asked China for another one 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 6 million doses will arrive by the end of March under the COVAX scheme, with the remainder due by mid-year, Sultan announced last week.

Pakistan, a country of 220 million people, reported 1,615 new infections and 26 deaths in the latest 24-hours, 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,” health ministry announced at its 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 is also set to be approved for emergency use as the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has accepted its data.