Three aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) airlifted a fresh batch of two million doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine from Beijing, China to Pakistan, said the airline’s Country Manager for China Qadir Bux Sangi on Saturday.
Three special PIA planes have airlifted a fresh batch of two million doses of Sinopharm vaccines from Beijing to Pakistan, PIA Country Manager for China Qadir Bux Sangi while talking to Pakistani media in Beijing.
He said another batch of 1.5 million vaccines purchased by Pakistan from Chinese company CanSino will be brought to Pakistan in the next few days.
Earlier on Friday, the Asian Development Bank approved a $500 million loan for Pakistan for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccine.
ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, in a statement, said the loan for Pakistan was sanctioned under the ADB’s $9 billion Asia Pacific Vaccine Access Facility launched in December 2020.
He said the project will support Pakistan’s national vaccination plan by enabling it to purchase an estimated 39.8m doses of Covid-19 vaccines, safety boxes, and syringes.
The ADB chief added that the programme was aimed at offering rapid and equitable vaccine-related support to its developing member countries.
“Vaccines help to reduce the spread and mortality of Covid-19, restore confidence among citizens, and are vital to the economic recovery,” he said.
He underlined that the project would help protect vulnerable groups in Pakistan, adding that it was an integral part of the development partner package, helping the government to mitigate the health, social and economic impacts of the pandemic.
He said the ADB reaffirmed its full commitment to support Pakistan.
Asakawa underlined that the government was aiming to vaccinate the entire eligible population — around 119 million people comprising all those aged 18 years and above — while prioritising frontline health care workers, the elderly, marginalised groups including refugees and internally displaced persons, and people with comorbidities.
“ADB’s Covid-19 vaccine support project will provide financing to vaccinate over 18m people from priority groups.”
The Health Ministry forwarded a summary to the federal cabinet for the approval of Rs63.5 billion supplementary budget to procure vaccines for the months of August and September. But the Finance Ministry refused to provide funds citing pressure on exchange rate and wanting transparency in deals. It also advised the Health Ministry to arrange foreign loans for this purpose.
