ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in Pakistan, the health minister said on Saturday, becoming the first green light coronavirus vaccine in the country of South Asia.
Pakistan, which is experiencing a growing number of coronavirus infections, said its vaccines would be procured from various sources.
“DRAP granted an emergency use permit for AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine,” Health Minister Faisal Sultan told Reuters.
Approval has been given to obtain more than one million doses of Sinopharm vaccine from China, he said.
“We are in the process of obtaining vaccines of Western origin and other vaccines, both through bilateral purchase agreements and through the COVAX facility,” he said.
The Chinese vaccine is awaiting approval from the Pakistan Drug Regulatory Authority (DRAP), which has received and reviewed its data.
Pakistan is talking to several vaccine manufacturers, and Sultan said the country could get “in the range of tens of millions” of vaccine doses under an agreement with China’s CanSinoBio.
The vaccine company’s AdV-nCoV COVID-19 candidate is about to complete phase III clinical trials in Pakistan.
Efficiency is a key factor, Sultan said. “We have and are seeing stories evolving about the effectiveness of various vaccines.”
Sultan said preliminary results for the Cansino could arrive by mid-February. He added that Pakistan was considering committing to Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine.
Pakistan reported 2,432 new coronavirus infections and 45 deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to more than 516,000 and deaths to close to 11,000.
“Our goal is for most of the population to be covered for free,” the minister said, adding that the private sector could also afford it once the supply is available from an authorized company.
Sultan added that Pakistan had adequate cold chain facilities for most types of vaccines.
Asif Shahzad Reports; Written by Gibran Peshimam; Edited by Louise Heavens; Editing by Kirsten Donovan, Helen Popper and Louise Heavens