First shipment of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine reaches Pakistan

KARACHI: A pharmaceutical company of Pakistan has received the first consignment of Russian made Sputnik-V vaccine, ARY News reported on Thursday.

An official of the private firm said that the price of the vaccine will be fixed by the government soon. The Covid-19 vaccines would remain stored at the cold storage till approval of the price by the government.

The registration process of the company’s corona vaccination centres has also been underway, Dr. Umar Chughtai said.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had granted approval to Russian vaccine for Covid-19, for emergency use in February.

A Pakistani pharmaceutical company had applied to the DRAP for approval of Sputnik V and a Karachi based pharma company will import the vaccine from Russia, officials earlier said.

Sputnik V could be administered to a person of 18 and above it. The vaccine requires to store at minus-18 Celsius temperature, according to the sources at DRAP.

The company will also be responsible to compile and keep record of the distribution.

The Russian vaccine has a success ratio of 91.6 percent and made in Russia in collaboration with the government by Moscow’s Gamaleya Research Institute.

Sputnik V is one of four vaccines approved for emergency use in Pakistan, in addition to those by China’s Sinopharm and CanSinoBio, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot.