Sputnik V vaccine imported in Pakistan at a cost price of $22.5 per dose: report

• The first consignment of 50,000 doses of the vaccine arrived on Wednesday
• Sputnik V vaccine will be distributed to vaccination centres in a week after price approval from DRAP.
• It will be administered through hospitals and institutions that are authorised by the government as COVID-19 vaccination centres.

KARACHI: Russian coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V has been imported by a private Pakistan firm at a cost price of $22.5 per dose, The News reported Friday quoting unnamed sources.

The first consignment of 50,000 doses of the vaccine arrived on Wednesday and was moved to a storage facility in the city as the government has not yet set a price cap for the vaccines imported by the private sector.

Sputnik V vaccine will be distributed to vaccination centres in a week after its price is determined by the Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP), sources told the publication.

Read more: Govt reverses decision on uncapped prices for privately imported coronavirus vaccines

Now the regulatory authority would issue a no-objection certificate and a ruling for the marketing of the medicine, after which it would be distributed to the private centres.

The process would take around a week, sources said.

Sputnik-V is one of four vaccines approved for emergency use in Pakistan, in addition to those by China’s Sinopharm and CanSinoBio and the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot.

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The Russian vaccine has a success ratio of 91.6%.

It will be administered through hospitals and institutions that are authorised by the government as COVID-19 vaccination centres.

Earlier, the government had allowed the private sector to import and sell the COVID-19 vaccine at the price of their choice but recently, the federal government revoked its earlier policy and decided to fix the price itself.

Now, the pricing board of the DRAP would fix the price and send it to the cabinet for approval and after approval, the private firm could sell the products locally.

“There is a formula, already in vogue, to determine maximum price,” Health Minister Faisal Sultan told Reuters.

“So yes, there is a price cap that DRAP will recommend and get approval for.”