Pakistan gets 1st batch of China’s CanSino vaccine

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD (AA) - Pakistan received the first shipment of the single-dose COVID-19 vaccine produced by China’s CanSino on late Tuesday, local media reported.

The first batch included 60,000 doses of the vaccine, said local broadcaster Geo News citing Health Ministry officials.

On Tuesday, Minister for Planning Asad Umar, who leads the country’s anti-virus strategy, said: “We will be getting the bulk vaccine by mid-April from CanSino from which 3 million vaccine doses can be made.”

The development came amid reports that the country's already sluggish vaccination campaign is likely to take a further hit, following the delay in the supply of 17 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine being provided by the WHO-led COVAX program for developing countries.

Pakistan had already received around one million doses of China's Sinopharm, donated by Beijing, and currently vaccinating frontline healthcare workers and senior citizens.

The country has recorded 14,434 COVID-19 deaths and 667,957 infections since the pandemic began.