Coronavirus: Second consignment of Sinopharm vaccine to reach Pakistan on Monday

• Pakistan to get half a million doses of another consignment of the Sinopharm vaccine on Monday
• Govt official refers to it as an "army-to-army collaboration" between both militaries
• Pakistan to get 6-7mn doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s AZD1222 vaccine by the end of this month, confirm health authorities
  

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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will get another consignment of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine on Monday, confirmed Pakistani and Chinese officials to The News. 

According to a report in the publication, half a million doses of the vaccine will be brought to Pakistan via a special flight of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force. 

Read more: PM Imran Khan kicks off coronavirus vaccination drive in Pakistan

“China is donating a second consignment of the Sinopharm vaccine to Pakistan, which will reach Islamabad on Monday, February 8, 2021, through special transport aircraft of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force," said a Pakistani government official. 

Saying that no further details can be provided to the media about the development, the official referred to it as an "army-to-army" collaboration between Pakistan and China. 

Read more: Pfizer, AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to be used in Pakistan for elderly

Chinese media also confirmed that Pakistan was going to receive another donation of the Sinopharm vaccine but they did not provide details of the doses being sent to Islamabad.

Pakistan has already received 500,000 doses of the Chinese vaccine, which is being used to inoculate frontline healthcare workers in the country. So far, over 12,000 frontline healthcare workers have already been vaccinated.

Health authorities in Pakistan had earlier confirmed that the country will get 6 to 7 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca’s AZD1222 vaccine by the end of the current month, which would be used to inoculate the remaining healthcare workers as well as people above 65 years of age. 

Due to lack of data, the Chinese vaccine is not recommended for people above 60 years of age. 

Health authorities had said that through the COVAX facility Pakistan was expected to get at least 17 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s vaccine, while it is also hopeful of getting a few hundred thousand doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine “BNT162b2” in donation, for which Ultra Cold Chain (UCC) equipment is also being acquired.

Pakistan has so far granted emergency use authorisation for three vaccines -- Sinopharm, AstraZeneca and Sputnik V developed by Russia -- but so far only China’s Sinopharm vaccine has managed to reach the country. Currently, it is being used to vaccinate the frontline healthcare workers.