Russia's Sputnik V vaccine to cost up to Rs9,000 in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has determined how much Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine imported by the private sector is to cost in the country.

Sources with knowledge of the matter told ARY News on Sunday that the drug regulator’s processing board in a meeting held on March 19 recommended fixing the price of two doses of the Russian vaccine between Rs8,200 and Rs9,000.

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They said the recommendation has been forwarded to the health ministry to present the same before the federal cabinet for a final approval, following which the DRAP will put out a notification fixing the price of the vaccine.

A Karachi-based pharmaceutical company received the first consignment of Russian made Sputnik-V vaccine earlier this week. 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.

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

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.