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ISLAMAABAD: Pakistan has received another batch of coronavirus vaccines after a Pakistan Air Force (PAF) special plane carrying 0.5 million doses of SinoVac vaccine arrived from China.
Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that the PAF plane carrying the vaccine arrived at Islamabad’s Nur Khan Airbase. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) clarified that the consignment was procured on payment from China and was not a donation.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP had granted emergency authorisation to the SinoVac’s vaccine CoronaVac earlier this month. The CoronaVac vaccine was allowed by the health authorities despite its low efficacy rate to counter the third wave of the pandemic in Pakistan.
This was the fifth coronavirus vaccine and the third Chinese vaccine to be used in Pakistan. Earlier, Pakistan had granted the authorisation to China’s two-dose Sinopharm and single-dose Convidecia vaccine developed by the Cansino Biologicals. UK’s AstraZeneca and Russian Sputnik V vaccines have also been approved by the DRAP.
A spokesperson of health ministry earlier said that Pakistan has received 1 million purchased shots of CanSino and Sinopharm vaccine from China. He said the vaccine is being provided to federating units in compliance with all health guidelines.
On March 31, the country had received the first shipment of the single-dose Covid-19 vaccine produced by China’s CanSino. Minister for Planning Asad Umar had said Pakistan will be getting the bulk vaccine by mid-April from CanSino for three million vaccine doses.
Pakistan started the vaccination campaign in February with vaccinated donated by the government of China. The campaign started with inoculation of frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens in the second phase. The government has now starting the registration of people over the age of 50.
