(Karachi) Pakistan will produce three million doses of China's single-dose CanSino vaccine every month at the National Institute of Health (NIH) vaccination plant, Arab News Pakistan reported this quoting the government.

The move will reduce the country's dependency on importing vaccines from other countries.

Earlier, Pakistan successfully produced CanSino COVID-19 vaccine in a bid to speed up its immunization drive.

In a tweet, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination Faisal Sultan said: "Congratulations to the NIH Pak team and its leadership for successful fill/finish (from concentrate) of the Cansino vaccine with the help of Cansino Bio Inc. China."

He added, "The product has passed rigorous internal QA testing. An imp step to help in our vaccine supply line."

The vaccine, named PakVac, would be available for administration to the citizens by the end of May after approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP). The trial test of the vaccine was held at the National Institute of Health's (NIH) Quality Control Unit.

Earlier, the government decided that it will locally produce the CanSino COVID-19 vaccine with the help of China.

NIH Head Maj. Gen. Aamer Ikram told the parliament's health committee that China's single-dose CanSinoBio vaccine will be prepared locally.

He said Beijing agreed to transfer the technology for the vaccine to Islamabad while a Chinese team is overseeing the project at the NIH.