Pakistan receives second batch of 500,000 vaccines from China | News pandemic coronavirus

A second donation of Sinopharm coronavirus vaccines will bring the country’s total supply to one million views.

Pakistan has received a Chinese donation of 500,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccine, bringing the country’s total supply to one million sightings, Health Minister Dr Faisal Sultan said.

A South Asian country of 220 million people launched the COVID-19 vaccine for the public on March 10, starting with the elderly. Health workers began receiving shots in early February.

“These 500,000 doses will ensure the smooth continuation of our vaccination campaign, which is currently underway for the elderly,” Sultan said in a tweet on Wednesday.

Sinopharm, the only vaccine currently available in the country, requires two doses.

Vaccination uptake has been slow in Pakistan, where authorities have opposed many vaccination delays among the general public and health care workers.

The percentage of COVID-19 tests coming back positive across the country has touched 6.26 percent and surpassed 11 percent in Punjab, the largest province.

Elderly people receive Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine doses at a vaccine center inside a demonstration center in Lahore [Arif Ali/AFP]

Pakistan has recorded 615,810 cases of coronavirus and 13,717 deaths, with 3,495 cases and 61 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, according to government data Thursday.

That daily case increase was the highest Pakistan has seen in more than three months, prompting authorities to tighten restrictions on public gatherings and warn of a third wave of the virus.

The country has not received any vaccines from drug manufacturers and is dependent on the GAVI / WHO COVAX campaign for poor countries and donors.

Pakistan expects to receive the first batch of 2.8 million doses of AstraZeneca at GAVI sometime later this month, officials said.

In addition to Sinopharm and AstraZeneca, Pakistan has licensed the Russian Sputnik vaccines and CanSino Biologics Inc (CanSinoBIO) in China for emergency use.

CanSinoBIO has released interim efficacy results from a multi-country trial, which included Pakistan, showing 65.7 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases and a 90.98 percent success rate in the prevention of serious diseases.

In the Pakistan subset, the efficacy of the CanSinoBIO vaccine at symptomatic case prevention was at 74.8 per cent and 100 per cent at preventing acute infection.

Authorities reversed last week the decision to allow large indoor gatherings such as cinemas, theaters and wedding halls in Pakistan after opening almost all sections of society.

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