China's Sinopharm vaccine safe, effective: SAPM Faisal Sultan

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr. Faisal Sultan said on Wednesday China’s Sinopharm vaccine is effective and safe.

Speaking to the media at the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), he said the vaccine that is 79 to 86 per cent effective is being used in China and has also been approved in Egypt and Hungary.

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Dr. Faisal Sultan expressed optimism that the vaccine will prove to be a key step towards protecting health workers from the coronavirus. He said Covax has promised to provide 17 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, seven million of which will be received in the first quarter while the remainder in the next quarter.

Besides, he added the government is also in contact with various countries and vaccine manufacturing companies to procure 73 million more doses of an anti-Covid vaccine.

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The SAPM said out of the country’s 220 million population, 100 million could be vaccinated against the coronavirus and the government desires to vaccine 70 per cent of them by December-end.