Federal govt begins nationwide distribution of Pfizer vaccine: Dr Faisal Sultan

ISLAMABAD: Federal government has started the distribution of 51,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine among federal and provincial authorities, ARY NEWS reported quoting SAPM on Health Dr Faisal Sultan.

Dr Faisal Sultan said that they had received 106,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine under the Covax programme.

Punjab province would receive most of the doses-26,000- followed by 12,000 and 8,000 doses of the vaccine to be provided to Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces, the SAPM shared.

Dr Faisal said that the Balochistan province would receive 2,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine. “Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir will get 1,000 doses,” he said adding that Pfizer would be administered in 15 cities of the country due to the presence of ultracold chain refrigerators.

Moreover, the National Ministry of Health has issued guidelines for use of Pfizer vaccine in the country that is among the last vaccines allowed by DRAP for use to tackle COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the guidelines, the vaccine would be kept in minus 60 to 80 degrees centigrade and any contact with light should be avoided. However, it could be placed at room temperature after six hours of its preparation.

Read More: Guidelines issued for use of Pfizer vaccine in Pakistan

The guidelines further read that one bottle of the Pfizer vaccine would carry six doses and its second dose would be administered after 21 days.

The vaccine would be transported in thermal shipping containers in order to maintain a specific temperature besides being stored in ultra-cold chain freezers. “The temperature of the cold storage unit would be recorded daily and a special kit would also be supplied along with the vaccine,” it said.

The guidelines read that vial of the Pfizer vaccine should not be opened before use.