ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Asad Umar, on Saturday broke the good news that COVAX has indicated a supply of up to 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine for Pakistan in the first half of 2021.
“Good news on COVID vaccine front. Received a letter from COVAX of [an] indicative supply of up to 17 million doses of AstraZeneca in 1st half 2021,” Umar, who is also the head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said in a tweet.
According to the planning minister, six million of the total 17 million doses will be received by March with delivery starting in February. He did not specify any dates.
“We signed with COVAX nearly eight months back to ensure availability,” he added.
‘DRAP grants Sinopharm, Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines emergency approval’
On Saturday, January 16, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan told Reuters that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) had granted emergency use authorisation to the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.
‘TPD coronavirus updates’
Pakistan reported 2,183 new coronavirus infections and 63 deaths on Saturday (today), taking the total number of cases to more than 543,214 and deaths close to 11,623.
