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ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved the Sinopham coronavirus vaccine for people above 60 years of age, NCOC said on Friday.
According to the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC), DRAP has approved China’s Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine for inoculations to registered health workers over 60 years.
“The Sinopharm vaccine is being administered to people up to the age of 60 years, though, it would now be used to inoculate citizens above 60 years of age too,” NCOC said.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services, Dr Faisal Sultan earlier said the Chinese made Covid-19 vaccine, Sinopharm, is not recommended for people above 60 years of age.
He said that based on the findings of the expert committee’s preliminary analysis of Sinopharm data, the government has recommended the vaccine be licensed for people aged 18-60, at this stage.
The first batch of 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Pakistan on February 2 as a gift from China to be used to inoculate the frontline health workers to protect them from COVID-19 at the initial stage.
On January 18, DRAP had green-lighted emergency use of Chinese anti-coronavirus vaccine produced by Sinopharm amid ongoing second COVID-19 wave in the country.
As per details, the decision was taken in meetings held between January 14 and 18 after reviewing vaccine results data submitted by the National Institute of Health (NIH). The move also allows federal and provincial governments, and the private sector to import the anti-COVID-19 drug.
The drug is developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a Sinopharm subsidiary. On December 30, Sinopharm announced that phase III trials showed the vaccine was 79% effective. Thus far, the vaccine has been approved for use in China, Jordan, Egypt Bahrain and Serbia. This is the second vaccine approved for emergency use in Pakistan.