-Guidelines issued for use of PakVac
-CAA relaxes SOPs for disinfecting PIA planes
-COVID infection ratio in Pakistan rises to 3%
DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Thursday made bulk purchase deal of coronavirus vaccines with China.
Pakistan has made various agreements of buying over 27.5 million vaccine doses of China made vaccines, officials at National Institute of Health (NIH) said.
The doses of Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino vaccines being purchased under the vaccine procurement agreements, according to sources. “Under the procurement agreements raw material and prepared coronavirus vaccines being purchased from the Chinese companies,” Agencies reported.
Pakistan has signed a deal of the procurement of 23 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine, according to sources. Sinopharm will provide vaccine consignments to Pakistan in phases till December this year.
Moreover, Pakistan has made an agreement with CanSino Biologics for over two million vaccine doses and 2.5 mln vaccine doses with Sinovac, sources said. It is to be mentioned here that a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines reported at various vaccination centres in Pakistan. In Punjab as well as at Karachi’s Expo Center, scarcity of vaccines reported affecting the government’s drive to inoculate maximum citizens in the country.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of National Health on Thursday laid down a set of guidelines for the use of the homemade single-dose Covid-19 vaccine PakVac to ensure its proper storage and efficacy.
According to the guidelines, the vaccine should be stored at a temperature ranging from two to eight degrees Celsius. The vaccine should not be frozen at any cost and be kept away from sunlight.
The health ministry said the PakVac vaccine can only be administered to people above 18 years of age. People suffering from heart, mental and respiratory diseases, diabetes, and obesity can be administered the vaccine.
It said the vaccine cannot be administered to pregnant women and lactating mothers besides those having fever.
The ministry said Covid-19 patients can be administered the PakVac vaccine only after they recover from the disease. People undergoing some organ transplant can be administered the vaccine three months after their surgery while those undergoing chemotherapy after 28 days, it said.
Besides, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has relaxed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for mandatory disinfection of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). The aviation authority has waived the condition for disinfecting PIA planes at foreign stations prior to boarding passengers for ferry flights. A notification has been issued by the CAA that stated disinfection of PIA planes operating outbound destinations will not require mandatory disinfection at a foreign station prior to boarding passengers.
The decision had been taken to minimise the risk of transmission of coronavirus through air travel.
It is pertinent to mention here that ferry flights are being operated for bringing back Pakistanis from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia who were left stranded due to COVID-related travel restrictions. The national carrier sought a waiver on mandatory disinfection of the aircraft for ferry flights at the foreign stations.
Earlier in the day, it was learnt that all crew members of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The PIA officials said the national airline has achieved the goal of getting all its pilots, flight attendants and other staff inoculated against the deadly virus.
“Pakistan International Airlines has become the first Pakistani airline to have a completely safe crew,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Air Marshal Arshad Malik said in a statement.
“All safety measures are being completely adhered to,” he added, reiterating the airline’s resolve to ensure the safety of not only its passengers but its staff as well.
Positivity ratio: The COVID-19 positivity ratio in Pakistan has surged to 3 per cent over the past 24 hours.According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) data, 46 more people lost their lives, lifting the nationwide fatalities to 21,874.
The country’s caseload climbed to 945,184 after 1,119 more people tested positive for the deadly virus during this period. The new infections emerged when 37,196 tests were conducted during the said period.It is to be noted that COVID-19 vaccination centres in Lahore and Karachi are facing a shortage of vaccine and masses are facing hardships in getting their scheduled jabs.
On Wednesday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr Faisal Sultan had said that 2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines are still available in the country and supply would improve further after June 20.
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Faisal Sultan had said that a shortage of vaccines had been reported at some busy vaccination centres, adding that the situation will further improve after 20th June with the availability of additional doses. “There are more than 2,000 vaccination centres in the country and the number of visitors varies. So there may be a shortage of vaccines in some centres,” he had said.
