Pakistan to buy 7m doses of two COVID-19 vaccines

ISLAMABAD: The PTI-led federal government would buy 7 million doses of two COVID-19 vaccines from China, announced by Planning Minister Asad Umar, as the country gears up for vaccination of people over the age of 50 years.

Talking to a private newspaper, Asad Umar – who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) – informed that the consignments of the vaccines would start arriving in Pakistan this month.

“Pakistan is in the process to procure Sinopharm and CanSino from China. The consignments will reach Pakistan by the end of this month,” he said, adding that the government has also bought 60,000 doses of CanSino vaccine.

He further said that out of the 7 million doses to be received by April, 4 million would be finished products and ready to use, while 3 million doses would be in unpacked form.

China’s Sinopharm and CansinoBio, Russia’s Sputnik-V, and the British AstraZeneca vaccines are approved for emergency use in Pakistan. The government started inoculation drive last month with the frontline health workers getting jabs on priority.

Pakistan is also endeavoring to procure vaccines from other sources, including the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) – a global initiative for equitable access to the vaccines led by Unicef, Gavi, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others.