KARACHI: A private pharmaceutical company has received the first consignment of the Russian-made Sputnik-V vaccine for the coronavirus.
Dr Umar Chughtai, director at Chughtai Labs, said the registration process of the company’s corona vaccination centres has also been underway,
He said the price of the vaccine will be fixed by the government soon. The vaccines would remain stored at the cold storage till approval of the price by the government.
The first shipment of the Sputnik V vaccine arrived in Pakistan last night.
Govt will hopefully decide and announce the price soon.
We are in process of getting our vaccination centers registered.
— Dr Omar Chughtai (@OmarChughtai) March 18, 2021
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had approved the Russian vaccine for COVID-19 for emergency use in February. The pharmaceutical company had applied to the DRAP for approval of Sputnik V and a Karachi-based pharma company was expected to import the vaccine from Russia.
Sputnik V could be administered to a person of 18 and above it. The vaccine requires to store at minus-18 Celsius temperature. The company will also be responsible to compile and keep record of the distribution.
The Russian vaccine has a success ratio of 91.6 percent and made in Russia in collaboration with the government by Moscow’s Gamaleya Research Institute.
Sputnik V is one of four vaccines approved for emergency use in Pakistan, in addition to those by China’s Sinopharm and CanSinoBio and the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot.
