Pakistan has received a consignment of 500,000 doses of SinoVac vaccine from China.

A special Pakistan Air Force plane carrying the doses landed at the Nur Khan Airbase in Islamabad. The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said the latest consignment was procured from China on payment.

Earlier this month, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had granted emergency authorisation to the SinoVac's vaccine. SinoVac is the fifth coronavirus vaccine and the third Chinese vaccine to be used in Pakistan.

So far, Pakistan has approved Russia's Sputnik-V, the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine, China's Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines and SinoVac.The country has already received China's Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines.

According to The News, Pakistan will acquire at least 100,000 doses of mRNA Covid-19 vaccine of Pfizer BioNtech through COVAX by June this year.

Pakistan has begun its vaccination drive by prioritizing its frontline health workers and elderly citizens. Currently, people aged above 50 along with senior citizens are being inoculated while the rest of the citizens will be vaccinated after Eid.

Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has said that Pakistan aims to vaccinate 150,000 to 200,000 people daily after Eid.