ISLAMABAD: Pakistan began its coronavirus vaccination campaign from the federal capital on Tuesday, as one of the doctors received a shot in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his senior cabinet members.
Addressing the ceremony, the premier expressed his gratitude to his country’s closest ally, China, for sending 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine.
“We will give first priority to our health workers who deal with COVID-19 patients,” Khan said while explaining different stages of the immunization drive. “This will be followed by people who are more vulnerable to the disease due to their advanced age.”
The prime minister maintained that his administration was ensuring equitable vaccine distribution among all provinces.
“Pakistan has done better than the rest of the world [in terms of the number of infections] for which we should be thankful to God,” he continued. “However, I will request everyone to follow the SOPs [standard operating procedures] and continue to wear face masks.”
On Monday, Pakistan received a batch of 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China as a gift.
The South Asian nation of 220 million is expected to receive another tranche of 1.2 million doses that Pakistan has pre-booked from China.
Pakistan has also secured 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine under a global scheme to deliver coronavirus treatments to developing nations.
