ISLAMABAD – The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to another Chinese vaccine named CoronaVac to stem the spread of Covid-19 in the country.
This would be the fifth coronavirus vaccine to be used in Pakistan. Earlier, Pakistan had granted the EUA to China’s two-dose Sinopharm and single-dose Convidecia vaccine. UK’s AstraZeneca and Russian Sputnik V vaccines have also been approved by the DRAP.
Despite its low efficacy rate, CoronaVac vaccine was allowed by the health authorities to counter the third wave of the pandemic.
Which vaccines are being used currently
Two Chinese and one Russian vaccine are being used in the public and private sectors. Pakistan is expecting the AstraZeneca vaccine under the COVAX programme but due to supply constraints, the country has not received its share of doses as yet.
Another 105 people died of coronavirus infection across Pakistan over the last twenty-four hours, taking the overall death toll to 15,229.