Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan on Wednesday expressed confidence in the government’s ability to procure at least one million doses of coronavirus vaccines by March, saying it ultimately aimed to inoculate 70 per cent of the country’s population against the virus.
Addressing a press conference in Islamabad, he spoke about the two vaccines that have already been approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) – one manufactured by China’s Sinopharm and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
“We are in the advanced stage of discussion for procurement with two companies: Sinopharm and Cansino. Sinopharm’s vaccine is the one you have heard about being used in several countries including the UAE. It has an efficacy of 80 per cent and in some places, 85pc efficacy has also been reported. The phase 3 trials of Cansino’s vaccine are being conducted in Pakistan and they are near completion. Their results will come forward soon,” Dr Sultan said.
The national tally of total active Covid-19 cases in the country on Wednesday reached 35,163 as 1,772 more people tested positive for the deadly virus and 2,046 people recovered from the disease. Forty-eight patients, 44 of whom were under treatment in hospitals and four in their homes or quarantines, died, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Most of the deaths occurred in Sindh, followed by Punjab. Out of total 48 deaths, 30 patients died on ventilators.
Around 318 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country while no COVID-19 affected person was on ventilator in Gilgit Baltistan (GB), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan. Some 39,604 tests were conducted across the country on Tuesday, including 11,208 in Sindh, 14,007 in Punjab, 6,509 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 6,540 in ICT, 431 in Balochistan, 466 in GB, and 443 in AJK.
