-Says govt approved AstraZeneca, talks with Sinopharm in progress
DM Monitoring
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Sunday said that the government has approved procurement of the coronavirus vaccine and it would be available in the country by March.
In an interview, Asad Umar said the government has given approval of “AstraZeneca”, vaccine while discussion with a Chinese company, “Sinopharm” is also under progress.
He maintained that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has given green signal for importing the vaccine to protect the masses from corona virus.
The minister said that priority would be given to the provision of vaccines to health workers and the people falling between 60 to 65 years of age.
He said that around three million healthcare workers have been imparted training for anti-corona vaccination. Asad Umar said that the private sector can import the vaccine after following the necessary procedure.
AstraZeneca approved in Pakistan: Drap earlier on Saturday authorised the AstraZeneca Covid-19 shot for emergency use in Pakistan, making it the first vaccine to get local approval.
“Drap granted emergency use authorisation to AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine,” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Healh Dr Faisal Sultan said. Pakistan has also pre-booked more than a million doses of Sinopharm’s vaccine from China, Sultan said, adding that the Sinopharm vaccine is awaiting approval from Drap, which has received and reviewed its data. Its efficacy rate was announced at 79.3 per cent by Chinese health authorities.
“We are in the process to obtain Western origin and other vaccines both via bilateral purchase agreements as well as via the Covax facility,” Sultan had said.
Earlier on January 13, Parliamentary Secretary of National Health Services Dr Nausheen Hamid had said that Sinopharm had been selected for corona vaccination in the country.
Talking to the media Dr Nausheen Hamid had said that the government was in contact with four other vaccine companies and talks for procurement of the COVID-19 vaccine was in the final stage.
