Chinese COVID-19 vaccine not suitable for people above 60: SAPM Faisal

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan has asserted that the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine for COVID-19, which started being administered in Pakistan this week, is not recommended for certain segments including people older than 60 years.

Talking to journalists in Islamabad today (Thursday), he further informed that Sinopharm vaccine is not recommended for people above 60 years and under 18 years old, pregnant women and lactating mothers.

The special assistant said that this was not an unusual scenario. “When new medicines come, such things happen and the basis is whether that age group of the population or people with certain conditions was included in the research for it,” he added.

He further said that the elderly would be vaccinated with Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine, which is due for arrival in Pakistan later this month. Speaking more about the suitable vaccines, he said Russian vaccine Sputnik and another Chinese vaccine Cansino could also be a suitable option.

The SAPM stressed that a national institute was needed to deal with future threats and challenges from epidemics and diseases like COVID-19. He shared that the government had also made amendments to the law governing the National Institute of Health (NIH) in Islamabad so it could be upgraded.

On Wednesday, Pakistan started vaccinating frontline health workers against the coronavirus, days after receiving half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) had approved Chinese state-owned firm Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use last month.

Meanwhile, Planning Minister Asad Umar had announced that the government had received a letter from Covax saying 17 million doses of the Astra­Zeneca vaccine would be provided to Pakistan in the first half of 2021.