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ISLAMABAD: A special plane of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) carrying 1.55 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine reached Islamabad from China on Sunday amid shortages of the vaccines.
The National Command and Control Centre (NCOC) said that the batch was part of the “planned contracted quantity purchased from China”. it said measures have been taken to transport the doses to all federating units
The NCOC added that another batch of two to three million Chinese vaccine doses is expected next week followed by continuous supply. “China, as a time-tested friend of Pakistan, has taken special measures to ensure the uninterrupted supply of vaccine to Pakistan,” the NCOC said.
The vaccine doses arrive as vaccine shortages are reported across the country. Many vaccination centres in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi have run out of stock and have either suspended or slowed down the process.
The Sindh government has announced to close all vaccination centres on Sunday in the province amid shortages. Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that 225 mobile vaccination units had been temporarily shut and the facility at 60 private hospitals has also ended.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had said the supply issues would be eased by Monday or Tuesday. He denied there were any shortages and said there were one million doses available in Pakistan.
He told media that 1.55 million doses would arrive on June 20, followed by 2.5m on June 22 and two to three million doses would reach between June 23 and 30. He also made it clear that 400,000 doses of single-dose Pakvac (Cansino) would also be available by the end of this month.
