ISLAMABAD: Newly received 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China will help Pakistan in its ongoing immunization drive against COVID-19, the country’s de facto health minister, Dr. Faisal Sultan, said on Wednesday.
The Chinese vaccine donation arrived in Islamabad earlier in the day.
Pakistan began its COVID-19 vaccination program last month, targeting frontline health workers, with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm’s vaccine, also donated by China. In March, it launched a COVID-19 vaccination drive for the general public, starting with older people, as it grapples with a high degree of vaccination hesitancy among its 220 million people.
“The next batch of Sinopharm vaccine was received today. These 500,000 doses will ensure smooth continuation of our vaccination drive, currently underway for senior citizens. We’re grateful to China for their support. This gesture is a testament to our long-standing friendship,” Dr. Sultan said in a tweet.
The next batch of Sinopharm vaccine was received today. These 500,000 doses will ensure smooth continuation of our vaccination drive, currently underway for senior citizens. We're grateful to China for their support. This gesture is a testament to our long-standing friendship pic.twitter.com/fbS3kfmFQc
— Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) March 17, 2021
Rana Muhammad Safdar, director-general health at the Ministry of National Health Services and Regulations, told Arab News that the government had issued purchase orders to two manufacturers to get more vaccines in the coming weeks, declining to give more details on purchase orders, manufacturers and vaccine quantity: “All options are open for further procurement.”
The Sinopharm vaccine, a product of the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, is believed to be 79 percent effective in preventing the spread of COVID-19.
“Highest daily vaccination rate of over 41 thousand vaccinations achieved yesterday [Tuesday],” Asad Umar, Minister for Planning and Development, who also heads the government’s NCOC response center against the coronavirus pandemic, said in a Twitter post on Wednesday.
The minister said that out of the 41,000 vaccinations, 28,424 were administered to senior citizens across Pakistan. He also urged the public to encourage 70-year-old people and above to register for the vaccination program.
Apart from the Sinopharm vaccine, the South Asian nation is expected to get around 14 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in the next few days through Covax, an international initiative to ensure equitable access to vaccine to developing countries.
Pakistan hopes to receive a total of 45 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses under the Covax initiative by June this year.