Pakistan to start COVID-19 vaccination drive from Wednesday: Faisal Sultan

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan Tuesday announced that Pakistan will start its first COVID-19 vaccination drive from Wednesday(tomorrow) according to which priority would be given to healthcare and frontline workers.

Talking to a private news channel here, Dr Faisal said after healthcare and frontline workers, the vaccines will be given to those elderly who are above 60 years of age adding they will start receiving their Covid-19 vaccination from later this month.

He said getting vaccinated for Covid-19 will be voluntary and we will not force anyone for having dose of vaccine.

He said corona vaccine would be available for free of cost at all public hospitals and emergency use of the vaccine has been initiated to ensure jabs for high-risk people including frontline medical workers and seniors.

He also said the first batch of Sinopharm vaccine has been arrived in country yesterday and Pakistani nation was grateful to China who made this task possible.

Pakistan has asked China for another one million doses, he said, adding, Pakistan is also set to receive 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine under a global scheme to deliver coronavirus treatments to developing nations.

About six million doses will also arrive by the end of March under the COVAX scheme, Faisal Sultan added.

Special assistant further explained that in the first quarter (January-March), the government will be able to procure one million vaccine doses. "We believe that we will be able to obtain more doses in the future," he said.

Replying to a question, he said Pakistani government has also allocated initial funding of $150 million to purchase a COVID-19 vaccine directly from the international market to begin immunizing its population of 220 million people.

He said Pakistan is already engaged with various other international companies to get further vaccine, adding, Pakistan is on track to vaccinate 70 per cent of the population much before the targeted first quarter of 2021.

He said 1166 number was given for vaccination registration but this registration system would be active for general public when government would complete its frontline healthworkers and elderly vaccination drive in first phase.