Pakistan to get 4mn doses of CanSino vaccine till month-end: Asad Umar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Sunday claimed that Pakistan will have received 4 million doses of China’s CanSino vaccine by the end of April, ARY News reported.

Talking to ARY News program ‘Sawal Yeh Hai’, Asad Umar said that the country had received over 2.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine. He further said that the private sector had imported over 50,000 doses of the vaccine so far.

Reminding the provinces of their constitutional responsibility, the minister said that no province has procured the vaccine so far. Responding to a question, Asad Umar said that the federal government had not barred the provinces from purchasing the vaccines.

Earlier on March 30, Pakistan would be getting bulk Covid-19 vaccine from China’s CanSino Biologics by mid-April, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar had revealed.

“We will be getting bulk vaccine by mid april from cansino from which 3 million vaccine doses can be made,” he had tweeted.

“The bulk vaccine received will be formulated, sterilized and packed in Pakistan. For this purpose special equipment has been procured and manpower is being trained,” Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), had said.