Govt to import 3m doses of China’s CanSino vaccines next month

ISLAMABAD: Government will import more coronavirus vaccines made by China's CanSino Biologics next month, equivalent to 3 million doses, the minister in charge for Covid-19 operations said on Tuesday.

Pakistan began a vaccination drive last month with over a million doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by long-time ally China, but is scrambling to get more supplies as it awaits allocations of AstraZeneca's vaccine, which have been delayed.

"We will be getting the bulk vaccine by mid-April from CanSino, from which 3 million doses can be made," the minister, Asad Umar said on Twitter.

"The bulk vaccine received will be formulated, sterilized and packed in Pakistan," he said. Pakistan was also due to receive a previously ordered batch of 60,000 doses of the CanSino vaccine on Tuesday, Umar said, and it expects to receive another shipment of 1 million doses of Sinopharm's vaccine this week.

The Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines arriving this week are the first that Pakistan has purchased, rather than being donations.

Pakistan had been due to receive a first batch of up to four million doses of GAVI's total allocation of 45 million doses earlier this month, but that was delayed with AstraZeneca's Indian manufacturer citing domestic needs.