Pakistan receives Sinopharm vaccine shipment under Covax platform

ISLAMABAD: A foreign airlines flight carrying one million doses of Covid-19 vaccine landed in Islamabad, quoting sources ARY News reported on Wednesday.

Pakistan has received Covid vaccine consignment of China’s Sinopharm under the COVAX vaccine platform.

The vaccine consignment has been shifted to the central warehouse of the federal Expanded Programme of Immunization (EPI) from the airport, sources said.

China has provided 10 million doses of Sinopharm to COVAX vaccine alliance, sources said.

According to sources, a shipment of overall 6.1 million doses of Sinopharm will be handed over to Pakistan in the ongoing week under the COVAX programme.

“This is for the first time that Pakistan will be receiving Sinopharm vaccine under COVAX,” they said adding that the platform has provided Pakistan 8.1 million doses of Covid vaccines so far.

Pakistan has received 5.5 million doses of Moderna, 2.5 million doses of Astra Zeneca, and 100,000 doses of Pfizer through the COVAX platform, they added.

Pakistan has expedited efforts to inoculate its population through restrictions imposed on unvaccinated people.

Pakistan has been a member of the COVAX international vaccine platform, which will provide free vaccine for its 20 percent population, sources added.

The tally of COVID-19 vaccination in Pakistan is increasing with each passing day. According to the figures shared by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the vaccine doses administered across Pakistan in the last 24 hours stand at 11,58,744.

It further shared that the total vaccines administered in Pakistan until now have reached beyond 34.24 million.