Pakistani Planning Minister Asad Umar said on Wednesday that Pakistan will start registering people over the age of 65 so they can be vaccinated in the second phase of the coronavirus vaccination campaign.
Pakistan launched its COVID-19 vaccination campaign last Tuesday at a ceremony in the capital attended by Prime Minister Imran Khan, where a doctor in the country was the first to receive the injection.
The government plans to vaccinate 0.5 million health workers in the first three weeks of its vaccination campaign. Across the country, 578 designated centers have been established with a daily capacity of 40,000 people. In the next phase, 17 million of the "most vulnerable" people, including 9.5 million over the age of 65, would be shot.
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Umar said, Inshallah will open registration for 65-year-old Covid vaccinations next week," on Twitter. "Vaccination for those enrolling in this category will begin in March.
Inshallah will be opening up registration next week for covid vaccination for those 65 years and above. The vaccination of those who register in this category will start in march
— Asad Umar (@Asad_Umar) February 10, 2021
Last Monday, Pakistan received 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China free of charge and expects further doses before the current supply runs out. On Tuesday, Russia's Sputnik-V is the third Pakistani-approved COVID-19 vaccine after Sinopharm, developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.
A fourth vaccine candidate developed by CanSino Biologics Inc. (CanSinoBIO), has also completed clinical trials with 220 million people in the South Asian country, which in a preliminary analysis showed an efficacy of 65.7% in symptomatic cases and a success rate of 90, 98% showed Pakistani in severe cases head of health Dr. Faisal Sultan said of global research on Monday.
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) in the People's Republic of China has donated the COVID-19 vaccine to Pakistan's armed forces, "the ISPS said in a statement.
ISPR said the military would not keep the vaccine for itself, but would instead contribute to the national vaccination campaign. Military media said the vaccines would be given to frontline health workers across Pakistan "who are real heroes fighting the pandemic and saving precious lives.
“Pakistan's armed forces would like to thank the PLA and the People's Republic of China for this generous donation during the trial period,” the statement said. This was the second release of the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine in Pakistan.
