RAWALPINDI: In order to help the nation fight the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan Army has ordered two million doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine.
The agreement has been finalised and the first consignment of 200,000 doses will soon arrive in Pakistan.
A special aircraft of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) will airlift the shipment from Abu Dhabi.
In February, Pakistan became the 22nd country to approve Sputnik V, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, responsible for marketing the vaccine abroad, said.
It is to be administered in two shots, three weeks apart, has a six-month shelf life, and is stored at -18 Celsius, according to a document on the vaccine’s authorisation.
The government launched a vaccination drive in March with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by China, giving shots to frontline health workers as a priority.
It also secured 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine under the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) scheme to deliver coronavirus treatments to developing nations.
Dealing with a third peak of the contagion disease, Pakistan registered 2,566 new infections of Covid-19 after testing 29,801 samples, receiving back a positivity ratio of 8.61 percent. Meanwhile, deaths increased by 135 to 19,752.
Punjab remains the worst-hit province in terms of fatalities and infections followed by Sindh. The former reported 89 deaths from coronavirus, raising total casualties to 9,500, while the latter announced 23 deaths, raising the toll to 4,824.
Pak Army zindabad , i am waiting for receiving SPUTNIK V, vaccination.
It’s been weeks, where is the vaccine?