Govt kept waiting for 'charity-based' coronavirus vaccine: Ahsan Iqbal

• PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal says PTI govt wait for WHO's "charity-based" vaccines
• Says the govt should have earlier bought the vaccine from China at discounted rates to mitigate the COVID-19 situation in country
• Says countries which care for its citizens ordered vaccine in a timely fashion

LAHORE: Senior PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal on Sunday took a jibe a the ruling-PTI government and said that it kept waiting for "charity-based" coronavirus vaccines from the World Health Organisation (WHO) instead of taking swift action and procuring it through other means. 

Taking to Twitter, Iqbal wrote that the PTI [allegedly] paid "Rs500 million worth of bribe to its members in the National Assembly" but did not "purchase vaccines from China to protect the masses." He added that the vaccine could have been procured from China at discounted rates.

"Countries which really cared about their population had placed orders for the vaccines ahead of time," he said. 

Read more: Special plane transporting Chinese coronavirus vaccine on its way to Islamabad

A day ago, the National Command and Operations Center (NCOC) Chief and Federal Minister for Planning Asad Umar had announced that Pakistan has received a letter from WHO's COVAX programme under which the country would get an indicative supply of up to 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine in the 1st half 2021.

"About 6 million [doses] will be received by March with delivery starting in Feb. We signed with Covax nearly 8 months back to ensure availability," the minister wrote on Twitter. 

Read more: 'Good news': Asad Umar says Pakistan can expect 17 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine this year