Over 0.8m vaccine doses injected in Pakistan: Dr Faisal
Staff reporter Islamabad
The first batch of CanSino Covid-19 vaccines that the Pakistani government has purchased from China arrived Tuesday night.
Earlier, the third phase trials of the CanSino vaccine had been conducted in Pakistan and it is the second Chinese Covid-19 vaccine that Pakistan has approved for emergency use in the country.
The CanSino Biologics Inc told Xinhua that the single-dose CanSino Covid-19 vaccine is expected to facilitate the building of immunity in the Pakistani society to help the country restore the normal functioning of society and economy.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan at the occasion said on Wednesday that 0.8 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered in Pakistan and the campaign would be further sped up.
SAPM Sultan was talking to the media in Islamabad where he provided updates of Pakistan’s vaccination campaign and future developments to come.
“I want to tell you that more than 0.8m vaccine doses have been administered in Pakistan and we want to take this campaign further and speed it up.
“The reason for that is the epidemic is at its peak right now and apart from all safety precautions an important strategy to control it is vaccination,” he added.
He said that 0.5m purchased doses of China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine had been received today with an additional 0.5m doses scheduled to arrive tomorrow.
Pakistan would have possession of one million purchased vaccine doses in total with these two consignments, said SAPM Sultan, adding that millions of doses of purchased Covid-19 vaccine would continue to come in the following weeks and months.
“In the coming months in April, May and June, orders for millions of doses are being finalised and they will keep coming.
Then our vaccination process will keep moving forward.” He mentioned that registration for people above 50 had been opened while the inoculation campaign for people above 60 was ongoing.
“We are speeding up this process and want to take it to a stage where a large number of Pakistanis have been vaccinated so it can prove to be an important tool and help in stopping the spread of the disease.”
