Daily Times

KARACHI: Pakistan receives first shipment of privately imported Russian COVID vaccine Wednesday night, including Gam-COVID or Sputnik V, at the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi.

About 50000 doses of sputnik vaccine have arrived in Karachi, and will be provided to major Hospitals and medical institutions, said health officials.

“From now onwards, shipments of this highly effective COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered to Pakistan at regular intervals and help the country fight the pandemic,” a Russian trade representative in Karachi, Ruslan Aliev said, he also handed over the the shipment to the private firm.

The double-dose Sputnik V has become the first COVID-19 vaccine now available in Pakistan in the private sector as earlier the country was relying on the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, which is being donated to the Pakistan government by Chinese authorities to vaccinate its frontline healthcare workers and elderly population.

Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had granted emergency permission for use of the Russian COVID-19 vaccine in the last week of January, 2021.

The DRAP registration board declared the Russian coronavirus vaccine suitable for the use of elderly population, according to a committee of experts last week.

We have initially imported 50,000 doses which can vaccinate 25,000 adults. Around 150,000 more doses of the vaccine are expected to reach Pakistan by the end of this week, said by the officials of private firm imported vaccine.

DRAP says the private firm cannot sell the Sputnik vaccine to hospitals and institutions yet, they have to wait for the government to fix the price of the vaccine, which could take a few days or even some weeks.

“Earlier the government had allowed the private sector to import and sell the COVID-19 vaccine on the price of their choice but recently, the federal government revoked its earlier policy and decided to fix the price itself,” a DRAP official said.

The DRAP pricing board will fix the price and send it to the cabinet for approval. After this, the private sector will be able to sell the vaccine, he added.

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho had said Russians has charged $26-$28 for two doses of the Sputnik vaccine to the Sindh government.