Plane from Pakistan Departs for China to Bring in Coronavirus Vaccine

On Sunday, a plane from Pakistan departed for Beijing. This was a special plane belonging to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which set out to bring to the country the first shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine from China. 

On the 28th of January, the Federal Government granted permission for three coronavirus vaccines to be brought into the country. These included Sinopharm from China, Sputnik-V from Russia, and Oxford-AstraZeneca from United Kingdom. AstraZeneca’s availability was ensured for emergency purposes, for which a step-by-step guide was also issued. 

In relation to this, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) made special arrangements to store the vaccine in the capital city of the country. Measures have also been taken to air-transport doses of the vaccine to the federating units in Pakistan, especially Balochistan and Sindh. 

Asad Umar, the Federal Minister, also gave an update of the plane stating that it was currently in Beijing. As of now, it is being loaded with almost half a million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine and will depart for Pakistan soon. 

Meanwhile, the NCOC has made sure to establish a vaccine nerve center for the country. It has also taken onboard district and provincial vaccine authorities and staff. Coordination centers, as well as adult vaccination centers have also been established. 

Along with the 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, Pakistan secured 17 million indicative doses of the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca on Saturday. Out of these total doses, 35 to 40%, or 6 to 6.8 million doses, will be made available for use within the first quarter of 2021. 

Statistics have revealed that the current coronavirus cases in the country are 544,813. Up until now, 11,657 people have lost their lives to the disease whereas, 499,974 have successfully recovered.