KARACHI: Thousands of people rushed to get inoculated in the first round of commercial sales of Covid-19 vaccines that began over the weekend, with vaccination sites in Karachi saying late on Sunday they had already sold out.
The government is currently offering free vaccines to frontline healthcare workers and people over the age of 50, but the drive has thus far been slow, and last month the country allowed commercial imports by the private sector for the general public.
The first round saw the commercial sale of the two-shot Russian Sputnik-V to the general public for about Rs12,000 ($80) for a pack of two doses.
Despite the cost, a number of centres offering the shot reported long queues, with some in Karachi waiting in line for close to three hours. Most in the queue were young people still not eligible for the government’s free vaccination.
“I am very happy to get it, since now it is required for travelling,” Saad Ahmed, 34, told Reuters after he got his shot at an upscale private sector hospital in Karachi.
While the private sale of vaccines has begun, the government and importers are still locked in a pricing dispute.
The authorities initially agreed to exempt imported vaccines from price caps, but later rescinded the exemption and said it would set maximum prices.
One pharmaceutical company, which had already imported 50,000 doses of Sputnik-V, took the government to court, where it won an interim order allowing it to sell it until pricing is decided.
As soon as vaccination was opened for walk-in customers, there were long lines of people, Dr Nashwa Ahmed, who runs vaccination at Karachi’s South City Hospital, told Reuters.
Pictures of queues outside the hospital late into the night were shared on social media.
The hospital procured 5,000 doses of Sputnik-V and in just over two days all its stock had been administered or pre-booked, said a hospital official who asked not to be identified.
Companies, including one of Pakistan’s largest banks, have also purchased large quantities to have staff inoculated, the official said.
The private sales start as the country deals with a fresh wave of Covid-19 infections and healthcare facilities are fast filling to capacity.
Pakistan has thus far reported 692,231 infections and 14,821 deaths.
The Pakistani people have slowly come to understand that the Chinese vaccine efficiency is very low and this was proved when Imran Khan became corona positive even after taking the Chinese vaccine. In such a situation, in the absence of other vaccines, the only Russian vaccine is visible to the people of Pakistan, which can save their lives. That is why there is so much rush in Pakistan for the Russian vaccine. While the government of Pakistan has left the public completely on their condition, because this vaccine is getting 12000 rupees to the general public, which is very expensive according to the economic condition of Pakistan.