The government hopes to procure the Covid-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Dr. Faisal Sultan told the media on Tuesday.
Dr. Sultan was responding to a question during a press conference alongside Information Minister Shibli Faraz after a federal cabinet meeting.
He further said that the federal cabinet had approved the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) recommendation to allocate $150 million to acquire a COVID vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
COVID vaccine
The SAPM said that the government will consider multiple factors before procuring a COVID vaccine, which includes: the type of vaccine, its efficacy, its safety and side effects, storage requirements, cost, the production capacity of the manufacturer, and whether Pakistan has access to procure that COVID vaccine. He added that several companies that are working on the development of a vaccine have been shortlisted and initial negotiations have started.
According to Dr. Sultan, the vaccine will be administered to the Pakistani population in stages: frontline healthcare workers will be the first priority; in the second stage, the elderly and at risk-population, in addition to other healthcare workers, will get the COVID vaccine; and the common public will receive the vaccine in the third stage.
He said the stages for COVID vaccine administration decided according to the risk faced by each population group and suggested the COVID vaccine will give free of cost.
“The government will fund this [and] take on this responsibility so nobody will be burdened,” he added.
The prime minister’s aide said that while $150m has approved for vaccine procurement. The authorities will request the government to approve more funds if required. The federal cabinet also requested to constitute a committee comprising four or five members. To oversee the procurement of the vaccine in order to ensure transparency.
In a nutshell
“In a nutshell, the federal government approved that a procedure adopted as soon as possible. To make possible the procurement of a safe and effective vaccine,” he said. Adding that the government will be open to tapping more than one source “including Western and Chinese manufacturers”.
Remdesivir COVID vaccine
Meanwhile, the price of the 100-milligram injection of remdesivir. A drug used to treat Covid-19 patients in specific conditions has slashed from Rs9,244 to Rs5,660. In view of prevailing international prices, Dr. Sultan said. Responding to a question regarding the World Health Organization’s recent findings on remdesivir, Dr. Sultan said that the body had issued a guideline but had not banned the usage of the drug.