While it is expected that at least two Covid-19 vaccines will be registered globally by next month, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday finalised its recommendations for the procurement of the vaccine against the deadly disease. The recommendations will be presented before the federal cabinet during its meeting scheduled for Tuesday (tomorrow), and approval will be sought to avail the opportunity to get the vaccine at the earliest. This was disclosed by federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar. “NCOC today finalised its recommendations for procurement of Covid vaccine. These will be presented to the cabinet tomorrow for approval. The task force of experts headed by SAPM health Dr Faisal Sultan had developed the recommendations which were discussed and finalised today,” he said in a tweet on Monday.
A senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), requesting not to be named, said that different options were being discussed for the last four months. “However, unfortunately, the process was derailed every time due to different reasons such as [possible] side effects of the vaccines, which vaccine would be available earlier etc., so different options were being considered and reviewed at the same time,” he said. “As we speak, it is expected that at least two vaccines will be registered, somewhere in the world, in December 2020. We have to make arrangements to get the vaccine at the earliest.
Ehtisham Ahmad
Lahore
