Pakistan says will manufacture single-dose coronavirus vaccine with Chinese assistance

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan plans to make its own single-dose coronavirus vaccine in collaboration with China, local media reported on Wednesday, quoting the Director General of the National Institute of Health.
Pakistan is currently offering free vaccines to frontline health care workers and people over the age of 50, but the drive has thus far been slow, and last month the country allowed commercial imports by the private sector for the general public.
The first round saw the commercial sale of the two-shot Russian Sputnik V to the general public for about 12,000 Pakistani rupees ($80) for a pack of two doses.
According to Pakistan’s The Express Tribune, the DG of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Major General Aamer Ikram, told the media after briefing a National Assembly standing committee that the country had requested China to transfer CanSinoBio coronavirus vaccine technology to Pakistan, and raw material was expected to arrive this month.
“We hope that we will be able to take some measures for preparation of the vaccine by the end of April,” he was quoted as saying. “The NIH has procured all the equipment and chemicals needed in this regard.”
Ikram said a Pakistani team was ready to undertake the task under the supervision of a Chinese team that was already in Pakistan. 
On Tuesday, Pakistan’s planning minister said 1.3 million people had so far been vaccinated in the nation of 220 million.