ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – Pakistan will be receiving its first purchase of over 1 million doses of Chinese Sinopharm and CanSino COVID vaccines by the end of March, the minister in charge of pandemic operations told Reuters on Tuesday.
“We have purchased one million and 60,000 doses of Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines,” Asad Umar said. “We will be receiving the consignment before end of March.”
He said the government was in talks to purchase another seven million doses of the vaccines.
The consignment is the first purchase of vaccines by Pakistan’s government, which has so far relied on donations and on allocations from the World Health Organisation-backed COVAX scheme for poorer nations.
(Reporting by Asif Shahzad; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
