Pakistan to get 3.5mn doses of Chinese COVID vaccines in two days: reports

ISLAMABAD – Pakistan is set to receive another tranche of 3.5 million COVID-19 vaccines from all-weather friend China in a couple of days amid the mass vaccination drive. 

Reports in local media quoting sources said the South Asian country will receive two million doses of Sinopharm and 1.5 million doses of Cansino Bio from China as the country has expedited its vaccination process amid the fourth wave of the pandemic.

It furthered added that “The vaccines will be brought in two phases and the two million doses of Sinopharm is a gift from Chinese authorities, while the remaining 1.5 million was purchased by Pakistan.

Pakistan would also be receiving 0.3 million doses of CanSino besides also getting raw material for 1.2 million doses. The Cansino vaccine will reach Islamabad tomorrow.

In recent weeks, the country’s vaccination rate proliferated exponentially as the first 10 million vaccinations took 113 days, while the second 28 days and the third only 16 days.

On Sunday, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chief Asad Umar announced that Pakistan had crossed over 30 million vaccinations.

The fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic has continued its upward trajectory, with Pakistan reporting 5,026 cases over the past 24 hours — the highest number of daily cases in the country since April 29 when 5,112 infections were reported.

Meanwhile, the positivity rate of the daily cases was recorded at over 8 percent. Pakistan's reporting of its highest number of coronavirus cases in nearly two months has come as a grim reminder of the worsening pandemic situation. with Sindh going under lockdown and reports of hospitals beginning to feel the burden.