ISLAMABAD Pakistan’s health chief Dr. Faisal Sultan said on Wednesday 78% of 18.7 million coronavirus vaccine doses received and ordered by Pakistan so far had been purchased by the government.
The government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has come under fire in recent weeks over slow vaccine rollout, with one of the main criticisms being that the government was too reliant on donations and gifts of jabs and had not placed purchase orders in time.
Giving a breakdown of vaccine arrivals in the country, Sultan said, 500,000 had arrived in January, 700,000 in February, 1,060,000 in March, 3,000,000 in April while 6,700,000 were expected in May and 6,300,000 in June.
“Of ~18.7 mln doses [rec’d & expected] until Jun, ~78% are via purchase by govt,” Sultan wrote on Twitter.
Only around two million vaccinations have been administered in Pakistan, and the country has struggled to procure supplies to cover enough of its population.
Officials have said health care facilities are at risk of being overwhelmed. Pakistan has very limited health resources, with ventilators and oxygen in short supply.
Pakistan recorded more than two hundred COVID-19 deaths in a day for the first time since the start of the pandemic on Wednesday, as the government said it was considering stricter lockdowns.
