PM Imran green-lights pre-booking of coronavirus vaccine
Pakistan approached two coronavirus vaccine manufacturers after Prime Minister Imran Khan greenlighting authorities to pre-book the vaccine.
Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr. Nausheen Hamid said the federal government has shortlisted two major pharmaceutical companies for this purpose.
The government has not revealed the names of the vaccine manufacturers yet.
In the first phase, 10 million Pakistanis will get the vaccine – front-line workers and people over 65 years old will be given priority.
The government has given strict instructions, meanwhile, for restaurants and industries to follow standard operating procedures as coronavirus cases continue to rise in Pakistan.
‘Chinese coronavirus vaccine better for Pakistan’
Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Science and Technology Chairman Dr. Atta-ur-Rehman had last week said the Pfizer vaccine, celebrated worldwide for its reported 90% efficacy, was not suitable for Pakistan due to its sub-zero storage requirements.
“This vaccine is not suitable for Pakistan in my opinion,” Dr. Rehman said.
Explaining his reasoning, he said the vaccine needs to be kept at -80 °C temperature, which in his view is a major problem for developing countries like Pakistan, which lack the “cold chain” necessary to transport the vaccine in such temperatures from the point of origin to the hospitals.
Unlike the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine, Chinese vaccines — two of which are undergoing clinical trials in Pakistan, can be transported in “normal temperatures”, which he believes makes it “better suited for Pakistan and third-world countries.”
“The first problem is that the US drug regulatory authority has not given the approval, which will take two months,” said Dr. Rehman. He added that the regulatory bodies will have to see the results first then allow the company to move on to the next stage of the coronavirus vaccine finalization process.
Large-scale trials of a coronavirus vaccine candidate produced by Pfizer/BioNTech has revealed that it is 90% effective, said the manufacturer in a statement.
