ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government on Sunday approved Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, local media reported, making it the third vaccine approved in the country.
On Sunday, Pakistan reported 48 deaths in the last 24 hours and an increase of almost 1,600 cases, bringing the total case count in the country to 532,412, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) which overseas the national coronavirus response.
Last week, Pakistan Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP) authorized the Oxford University-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in the country, followed by the Chinese state-owned firm Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccine, also for emergency use.
The vaccine’s Russian developers have said the shot has been found to be 91.4% effective in providing protection.
“Sputnik V currently ranks among top-10 candidate vaccines approaching the end of clinical trials and the start of mass production on the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) list,” the Sputnik V website reads.
A local pharmaceutical AGP, he said, had been authorized as the sole importer and distributor of the Russian vaccine.
