China to 'speed up' export of Covid-19 vaccine to Pakistan

Two countries have worked together since the outbreak of the pandemic, says Beijing

Beijing will "speed up" the export of Covid-19 vaccine doses to Islamabad and will also provide a batch of to Islamabad "as aid", said the country’s foreign ministry.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced that China will gift half-million doses of the vaccine to Pakistan by the end of January.

The announcement came after the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) approved China’s Sinopharm and the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines for emergency use. Officials have said that the government was in talks with two companies –Sinopharm and CanSino – for vaccines procurement.

"In order to support our brothers and sisters in Pakistan, the Chinese government has decided to provide a batch of vaccines as aid and will actively coordinate with the relevant Chinese enterprise to speed up export of vaccines to Pakistan," said Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying.

She added that the two countries have worked together since the outbreak of the pandemic in early 2019. "State Councilor Wang Yi shared this decision of the Chinese government with Pakistani Foreign Minister Qureshi yesterday during their phone call," she said referring to the phone call between the two diplomats. 

"Pakistan is China's all-weather strategic cooperative partner. The two sides have a fine tradition of mutual support and assistance. One can always count on a ready helping hand from the other in times of need."

Earlier, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan expressed his hope that the government would procure at least one million doses of the Covid-19 jabs by March, maintaining that it aimed to vaccinate 70% of the country’s population against the deadly contagion.

Pakistan is in the grip of a second, and deadlier, wave of coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 1,927 more people tested positive, while 43 deaths occurred in the last 24 hours. It added 1,737 patients recovered from the disease in a day.

With the latest NCOC data, the country’s death toll climbed to 11,247, since the disease firmed emerged in the country nearly 11 months ago. The death toll includes at least 176 doctors, 30 nurses, and one medical student, according to the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) data.