Federal government has announced to provide free COVID-19 vaccination to Pakistanis by 2021 next year.
Federal Parliamentary Secretary NHSR&C – Dr Nausheen Hamid on Wednesday, confirmed that COVID-19 vaccination will start in Pakistan by April 2021 next year.
Government will start the vaccination from the second quarter of 2021, she said.
Dr Nausheen Hamid underscored the fact that government will provide the coronavirus vaccine free of cost to the people.
According to Dr Faisal Sultan – Special Assistant Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services, the first phase will see oversee the provision of COVID-19 vaccine for people who are above the age of 60.
Meanwhile, clinical trials are already underway in Pakistan of ‘Ad5’ vaccine – a COVID-19 vaccine Chinese company CanSino Biologics and the Institute of Biology at the China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences.
The Ad5 vaccine contains a modified strain of adenovirus (cold virus) comprising of genetic material of COVID-19 coronavirus. Once exposed, the cells of the vaccine recipient will initiate generating coronavirus protein and the immune system will begin attacking these coronavirus proteins.
The development comes as earlier, federal cabinet approved the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine costing US$ 150 million on Tuesday.
Government’s priority will be healthcare workers and old age people who are most vulnerable to the virus, said Dr Faisal Sultan.
Pakistan’s COVID-19 tally stands at 403,331 cases with 8,166 casualties so far.
A total of 2,829 new cases along with 75 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours. Around 345,365 people have successfully recovered from the novel virus whereas 2,244 are still in critical condition.
