Pakistan receives first shipment of single-dose CanSino vaccine

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday received its first purchase of 60,000 doses of a Chinese CanSino Biologics Inc’s coronavirus vaccine, ARY News reported.

A plane carrying as many as 60,000 doses of single-dose CanSino Biologics vaccine arrived at the Islamabad International Airport.

The shipment was supposed to arrive in Pakistan on March 26 but got delayed due to some inevitable circumstances. The fifth batch of Sinopharm vaccine will be brought to Pakistan on a special aircraft on March 31.

Pakistan has purchased 60,000 doses of single-dose CanSino vaccine and one million doses of Sinopharm vaccine.

The sources said Pakistan had asked China for one million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. Thus far, three batches containing 1.5 million doses of Sinopharm vaccine, donated by China, have been brought to the country.

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Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar revealed on Tuesday that Pakistan will be getting bulk Covid-19 vaccine from China’s CanSino Biologics by mid-April.

“We will be getting bulk vaccine by mid April from cansino from which 3 million vaccine doses can be made,” he 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), said.