ISLAMABAD: Pakistan received the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine that China provided for the COVAX facility this week.
Early on Wednesday morning, a batch of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived at Islamabad International Airport.
Pakistani officials and experts say that the vaccine donations are not only indicators of the deep-rooted ties between the two countries, but also show that at the raging time of vaccine nationalism, China is sticking to its spirit of building a global community of health for all.
At a ceremony held here, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Faisal Sultan said China’s vaccine donation through COVAX highlights the manifestation of the commitment of the Chinese leadership that vaccine is a global public good and should be made available to the people across the globe to help them fight against the disease.
“China leads the way in supplying these vaccines…through the COVAX facility, it aims to reach the populations that perhaps have the biggest difficulty in purchasing a vaccine,” he said.
Pakistan is currently facing a serious fourth wave of COVID-19 as the rapid spread of the Delta variant, and it successfully overcame the previous three waves by ensuring implementation of guidelines identified by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) and speeding up its vaccination drive.
Experts believe that China came to Pakistan’s rescue in the crucial first wave when the healthcare teams were the most prone to catching the disease and tens of doctors and paramedics died whereas hundreds of others got infected.
Talking to Xinhua, Bilal Ahmad, a public health officer associated with non-government Panacea Healthcare System & Research Center, said that Pakistan’s victory against the disease started when the first batch of Chinese vaccine donation was started administering to the frontline medical staff because it gave a hope that beginning of the end of the pandemic had already started. – Agencies
