ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and head of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar on Saturday broke a good news that COVAX has indicated a supply of up to 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine in the first half of 2021 to Pakistan.
“Good news on Covid-19 vaccine front. Received a letter from COVAX of indicative supply of up to 17 million doses of AstraZeneca in 1st half 2021,” Umar wrote on Twitter.
According to the planning minister, six million of the total 17 million doses will be received by March with delivery starting in February. He did not specify any dates.
“We signed with COVAX nearly eight months back to ensure availability,” he added.
Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said he was “happy to share” that in addition to the 500,000 doses of the SinoPharm vaccine, almost seven million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be made available and given to the public free of cost.
“Pakistan’s vaccine drive starts next week, beginning with frontline healthcare workers,” he said.
“We remain confident that we will meet our plan of large-scale immunisation over the coming months this year,” a press release shared by Sultan on Twitter said.
Of the 190 participating economies, Pakistan is among the 92 that qualify for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) COVAX initiative that ensures rapid and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines for all countries, regardless of income level.
Plane to fly to China tomorrow for first tranche of vaccines:
Earlier today, the NCOC was informed that all necessary measures were in place for vaccine storage.
Last week, the Chinese government announced to “gift” Pakistan half a million doses of state-owned Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccine by January 31 (Sunday).
During Saturday’s session, the forum deliberated about measures for effective vaccine administration.
The meeting also discussed the airlifting of the first tranche of shots through a special Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) aircraft expected to fly to Beijing early Sunday morning.
Furthermore, the vaccine would be transported to the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan through the air.
On January 18, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use — a couple weeks after China approved the drug, which is also in use in several countries, including Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
DRAP last week also authorised the use of AstraZeneca’s vaccine co-developed with University of Oxford.
In a press conference, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi has also promised to make another 1.1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine available for Pakistan by the end of February to meet the country’s additional urgent requirements.
Pakistan is also conducting a phase three trial of another Chinese vaccine from CanSino Biologics Inc.
According to State Minister for Health Dr. Faisal Sultan the trial was near completion and that 17,500 people participated in it. He said the vaccine’s “interim analysis” was currently underway, and the initial results are expected to be available by early February.
With 65 more coronavirus-related deaths and 2,173 new infections in the past 24 hours, the country has recorded more than 543,213 cases of coronavirus, and 11,623 deaths from the contagious disease so far. In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,407 patients have recovered from the virus and 2,111 patients are still in critical condition.
The government plans to inoculate at least 70 percent of the 220 million strong population free of cost. In addition to the Oxford-AstraZeneca and the Sinopharm vaccines, the DRAP has given emergency use approval for the Russian-developed Sputnik V.
The government has plans to source doses from all over the world, including through the World Health Organisation (WHO) or its ambitious scheme, Covax, that works towards the development, purchase and delivery of vaccines to more than 180 countries.
The government has also allowed the private sector to import and distribute the shots. However, so far, permission has been given only to one company, Sindh Medical Stores, to import the AstraZeneca vaccine for private sale.
The company, reports suggest, is “one of the biggest importers of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products in Pakistan.” It says it is likely to charge $13 a dose, which they expect to be made available at large non-governmental hospitals.
However, the company says it still has no timeframe on when it will be able to offer the AstraZeneca vaccine for sale because of stiff global competition on orders.
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