Pakistan has reversed a decision which had allowed uncapped prices for Covid-19 vaccines imported by private firms, Health Minister Faisal Sultan said on Thursday.
The development coincided with the arrival of the first shipment of privately-imported Russian Sputnik-V vaccines.
“Now, however, there is a formula, already in vogue, to determine maximum price,” Sultan said. “So yes, there is a price cap that DRAP (Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan) will recommend and get approval for,” he said.
The first private shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against Covid-19 arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday night, around a month after the government said it would allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines.
“I congratulate the AGP Limited [Pakistani pharmaceutical company] for receiving the first batch of Sputnik-V vaccines comprising 50,000 doses,” said Russian trade representative in Karachi, Ruslan Aliev. “Now onwards, the shipments of Covid-19 vaccine would be delivered to Pakistan at regular intervals to help the country fight against the pandemic.”
DRAP “on February 1 has granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) for ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’ combined vector vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus (‘Sputnik V’ or the ‘vaccine’) to the company,” a AGP notification on the Pakistan Stock Exchange website, dated February 2, said.
“The company has also been authorized to import and introduce the vaccine in Pakistan and is now making efforts to ensure availability of sufficient supplies on an emergency basis in order to play a key role in supporting the government’s objective of vaccinating the masses.”
Russia approved the vaccine last August, before the large-scale trial had begun, saying it was the first country to do so for a COVID-19 shot. It named it Sputnik V, in homage to the world’s first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union.
