ISLAMABAD: Three aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) airlifted a fresh batch of two million doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine from China to Pakistan, airline’s Country Manager for China said on Saturday.
Qadir Bux Sangi, in a statement, said another batch of 1.5 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, purchased by Pakistan from Chinese company CanSino, would be brought to the country in the next few days.
A day earlier, it was reported that The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a $500 million loan to procure coronavirus vaccines, as the government has finally decided to disclose the Chinese vaccine price to the international lenders to secure more loans.
The Manila-based lender approved the loan to support Pakistan’s National Deployment and Vaccination Plan by purchasing and delivering an estimated 39.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine, safety boxes and syringes, according to an ADB handout.
Both sides also signed the loan agreement on the same day in Islamabad. Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan witnessed the signing ceremony of the financing agreement.
