Islamabad: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi revealed on Thursday that Pakistan is expected to get 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine from China by the end of January.
Qureshi while talking to media said that talks with China regarding the coronavirus vaccine remained successful. He said that the shipment would be carrying 500,000 doses of the vaccine while China will send more jabs by Feb 2021.
Besides appreciating the role of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) during the pandemic, the foreign minister also praised nation for bravely facing the situation.
The announced comes a day after Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said that the government of Pakistan will obtain one million doses of coronavirus vaccine during first quarter (January-March) of running year.
SAPM stated that in an underdeveloped country like Pakistan, supply of vaccine is not easy as COVID-19 vaccine is being the most demanding jab right now.
A special committee has been formed for the availability of vaccine that put forward various important points after exploring all the information.
The basic purpose for the committee was to identify and conclude several variables including, the possibility to bring the vaccine in country, which vaccine should we bring, is it effective yet or not and the cold chain requirement of the vaccine.
Moreover he stated that, Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved two Covid vaccines. Trials were conducted in country and 17,000 took part in the vaccine trials.
“We are under agreement with two companies, Sinopharm and CanSino to procure the COVID-19 vaccine.” he added.
Sinopharm is being used in several countries, and its efficacy is around 80-85%.
The SAPM concluded, “The vaccine is approved for the adult population and if we can vaccinate 70% of our population, then achieving immunity in the country would be no big deal”.
