ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s health ministry said on Wednesday a cabinet committee on coronavirus vaccine procurement was in touch with a number of global manufacturers, including from Russia, but the country did not want to make a “hasty decision” that could endanger lives.
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s federal cabinet gave approval to the ministry of health to purchase COVID-19 vaccine doses on an emergency basis. Last week, Pakistan said it would purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China’s Sinopharm, in the first official confirmation of a vaccine purchase by the South Asian country as it battles a second wave of infections.
Sajid Hussain Shah, a spokesperson for the health ministry, said the government was committed to procuring the vaccine but “did not want to make a hasty decision that could later imperil our population.”
“China’s Sinopharm vaccine will be available in Pakistan during the first quarter of the year as we are trying to procure it as quickly as we can,” Shah told Arab News. “We cannot give an exact timeline regarding the availability of the Sinopharm vaccine, but we are certain to have it in the first quarter of this year.”
The spokesperson said a cabinet committee on the coronavirus vaccine was in touch with a number of manufacturers including Russia, but a final decision had not been made on any producers other than Sinopharm.
Asked about the supply and distribution of coronavirus vaccines in the country, he said that a “robust mechanism” had been devised with the help of provincial administrations.
“We have gathered all the data on frontline health workers and elderly people who will be vaccinated in the first phase,” Shah said.
He added that the government had allowed private companies to import the vaccine to ensure maximum supply in the market.