ISLAMABAD: The first private shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday night, Pakistani media reported, around a month after the government said it would allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines.
Despite concerns over fairness and higher prices, Islamabad last month decided to allow the commercial import and sale of vaccines, in contrast to most countries that are importing and administering vaccines through government channels.
“I congratulate the AGP Limited [Pakistani pharmaceutical company] for receiving the first batch of Sputnik-V vaccines comprising 50,000 doses,” Russian trade representative in Karachi, Ruslan Aliev, told Pakistani newspaper The News. “Now onwards, the shipments of COVID-19 vaccine would be delivered to Pakistan at regular intervals to help the country fight against the pandemic.”
“This vaccine will be administered through hospitals and institutions that are authorized by the government as COVID-19 vaccination centers,” an official at AGP told The News, adding that during the next few days, the vaccine would be supplied to hospitals and institutions approved by the government. It was not clear if AGP would sell or donate the doses, what the price would be and if it would be set by the government.
Pakistan has so far received a million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine as donation, which are being administered through a government-run vaccination campaign.
Pakistani pharmaceutical company AGP Limited (AGP) announced in February the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had authorized it to import and introduce Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan.
According to peer-reviewed results from its late-stage clinical trial published in The Lancent international medical journal, the Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19.
DRAP “on February 1 has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’ combined vector vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus (‘Sputnik V’ or the ‘vaccine’) to the company,” a AGP notification on the Pakistan Stock Exchange website, dated February 2, said.
“The company has also been authorized to import and introduce the vaccine in Pakistan and is now making efforts to ensure availability of sufficient supplies on an emergency basis in order to play a key role in supporting the government’s objective of vaccinating the masses.”
Russia approved the vaccine last August, before the large-scale trial had begun, saying it was the first country to do so for a COVID-19 shot. It named it Sputnik V, in homage to the world’s first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union.
Small numbers of frontline health workers began receiving it soon after and a large-scale roll out started in December, though access was limited to those in specific professions, such as teachers, medical workers and journalists.
In January, the vaccine was offered to all Russians.
Pakistan gets first private shipment of Russian Sputnik V vaccine — media
https://arab.news/wek27
Pakistan gets first private shipment of Russian Sputnik V vaccine — media
- Last month the government said it would allow private firms to import vaccines
- Russian vaccine is said to be 91.6% effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19
Azad Kashmir President Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry dies at 71
- Pakistan prime minister praises Chaudhry’s advocacy for the Kashmir cause
- AJK Presidential Office says he died in Islamabad after a prolonged illness
ISLAMABAD: Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, the president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and a veteran Kashmiri politician, died in Islamabad on Saturday after a prolonged illness, according to an official statement from the AJK Presidential Office. He was 71.
His funeral prayers will be held on Sunday at 4 p.m. at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium, the statement said.
Chaudhry, who served multiple times as prime minister and opposition leader in AJK before becoming president in 2021, was one of the region’s most prominent political figures and a long-time advocate of the Kashmir cause at international forums.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed deep sorrow over Chaudhry’s death in a statement.
“Barrister Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry was a farsighted political leader who spent his entire life in the service of the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir,” Sharif said in a statement issued by his office.
Born on August 9, 1955, in Chichian, Mirpur, Chaudhry received his early education in his native village, completed his matriculation from Cantonment Public School Rawalpindi and graduated from Gordon College Rawalpindi before traveling to Britain, where he earned a law degree from Lincoln’s Inn. He returned to Pakistan in 1983 and entered active politics.
Over his political career, Chaudhry was elected nine times from his Mirpur constituency and held several senior positions, including prime minister of AJK in 1996 and opposition leader in the legislative assembly in 2001. He also led multiple political parties in AJK, including the Muslim Conference, the Peoples Party AJK chapter and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf AJK chapter.
The AJK Presidential Office said Chaudhry played a central role in raising the Kashmir issue globally, addressing international institutions, foreign governments and parliaments, and leading protests and demonstrations in cities including London, New York, Brussels and Berlin. It said he was the only AJK leader to have been permitted to visit Indian-administered Kashmir, where he addressed a public gathering at Srinagar’s Lal Chowk and met senior Kashmiri leaders.
Sharif said Chaudhry “raised a strong voice against Indian oppression of the Kashmiri people and in support of the Kashmir cause.”
“His service to the Kashmiri people and his struggle for the Kashmir cause will always be remembered in history,” he added.
