ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar announced on Saturday that Pakistan would use Moderna vaccine to inoculate its citizens who wanted to go abroad since certain countries did not accept people who had benefitted from COVID-19 shots manufactured in China.

Pakistan received a batch of 2.5 million doses of Moderna vaccine on Friday that was donated by the United States in partnership with the COVAX global vaccine initiative and UNICEF.

Umar, who also heads his country’s main body responsible for developing and coordinating its pandemic response, thanked US President Joe Biden for his “progressive policy” since the American leader promised to deliver 80 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to the rest of the world by the end of June.

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Pakistani expatriate workers have been protesting against the shortage of vaccines approved by various Middle Eastern states in their country.

In a recent incident, many of them stormed a mass vaccination center in Islamabad in a bid to get Pfizer or AstraZeneca shots to travel abroad.

“The United States Mission to Pakistan is pleased to share these safe and effective vaccines with the people of Pakistan,” US Embassy Chargé d’affaires Angela P. Aggeler said on Friday. “We appreciate the ongoing collaboration with the Pakistani government and our international partners to make this delivery and these goals a reality.”

The United States has delivered nearly $50 million in COVID-19 assistance through its partnership with the Pakistani government, she added.

The US has pledged $4 billion to support COVAX with the purchase and delivery of vaccines to 92 low- and middle-income countries. In May, Pakistan received 1.2 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as part of the COVAX effort.

Pakistan has been battling a third wave of the coronavirus in recent months, which it has tackled with strict coronavirus rules and by picking up its vaccination drive. The country has administered over 16 million coronavirus doses since February in a country of 220 million people.

On Monday, the government announced easing nearly all coronavirus restrictions across the country as infection numbers showed a steady downward trend.