Daily Times

Pakistan will receive 500,000 doses of Sinopharm’s coronavirus vaccine from China this month, said the Parliamentary Secretary on Health Dr Nosheen Hamid.

Hamid was speaking to the media on Tuesday where she revealed that the vaccine doses will be donated by China.

“China has already donated 1.5mn doses of the coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan,” she said, adding that the 500,000 doses from Beijing will be delivered to Pakistan this month.

Speaking about the pandemic and the government’s vaccination process, Dr Hamid lamented that people were not getting themselves registered for the coronavirus vaccine jab. “As of now, a little over 2mn people have gotten themselves registered [for the vaccine],” she said. “Out of these, 650,000 are healthcare workers.”

Dr Hamid said the government will initiate a campaign that would encourage the masses to get vaccinated against the virus. Apart from the donated vaccine doses from China, the health secretary confirmed Pakistan will also receive the shipment of coronavirus vaccine doses from China that the country has purchased. A few days ago, a Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) official had said that the company provided its safety and efficacy data to the expert committee and on its recommendations, the approval for another Chinese vaccine was given.