ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received another 1,20000 COVID vaccine doses from China on Wednesday, ARY News reported.
In a bid to expedite the vaccination process in the country, Pakistan has signed contracts for the purchase of the COVID vaccine with several companies including Chinese firms.
The plane carrying the vaccine doses which have been purchased by Pakistan from China landed at Islamabad airport today morning.
The officials of the National Institute of Health (NIH) received the vaccine and the airport. Last week, three special airplanes of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) carrying one million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China reached Islamabad. Three Boeing 777 PIA airplanes were sent to China by the Government of Pakistan and the Ministry of Health, in a bid to accelerate the delivery of vaccines to combat the coronavirus epidemic. Earlier on April 25, three PIA planes carrying a consignment of one million COVID-19 vaccine doses had landed in Islamabad as the country sees a sharp increase in new Earlier on Monday SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan had announced that the government has planned to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of 2021 and efforts are underway to acquire coronavirus vaccines so that it is able to do so.
In a media briefing, Dr Faisal Sultan said due to the agreement on the transfer of technology, the National Institute of Health (NIH) will be able to produce three million doses per month which will significantly reduce the country’s dependence on other countries. He said China was a strong partner and had gone out of its way in keeping up a supply chain and transferring technology to Pakistan.
The SAPM said the government had planned to vaccinate 70 million people by the end of this year.
“The population of Pakistan which was currently eligible for vaccination was 100 million out of 220 million as the vaccines had only been approved for those above 18.”
He added that for the first half of the year, January to June 2021, the government had received and expected to receive 19.82 million doses. – Agencies
