No NOC required for provincial govts to procure any registered Covid vaccine: PM’s aide

As Pakistan continues to grapple with the third and potentially more deadly wave of the novel coronavirus, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) Dr Faisal Sultan has clarified that no no-objection certificate (NOC) is required for any provincial government to procure any registered Covid-19 vaccine.

Pakistan's coronavirus cases reached a nine-month high in the past week with more than 4,500 cases being reported consecutively. However, the government is facing criticism over the slow rollout of the vaccine, considered essential to stem the spread of the lethal virus.

The government, last week, announced that 7 million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine would be bought from China in the coming days.

Read more: Pakistan to receive first purchase of over 1 million doses of Chinese vaccines

"The Fed govt has procured & will continue to procure COVID vaccine for all Pakistanis," Dr Faisal wrote on his official Twitter handle while responding to a query of the Sindh government.

He said that there is no NOC requirement or bar for any provincial government to procure any registered vaccine if they are able to.

"Any facilitation needed will be provided," he further said.

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Yesterday, Dr Faisal Sultan had said that the current wave of Covid-19 in Pakistan had the potential to be worse than the first one which struck the country in the summer of 2020.

"Covid-19’s current wave has the potential to be worse than the first one in the summer of 2020. No time for complacency or visiting crowded places of any kind. Wear masks and educate those around you," Sultan had said on Twitter.

Pakistan is also endeavouring to procure vaccines from other sources, including the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) – a global initiative for equitable access to the vaccines led by Unicef, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and others.

Last year, Gavi had announced to provide 17 million doses to Pakistan in March. However, as the pandemic escalated worldwide, Europe’s own production could not meet the requirement of its own population.

As a result, pressure for supplies mounted on Indian manufacturers. This forced India to stop export to the Asian countries. Consequently, the vaccine doses, which were to be received by Pakistan from India has been delayed till June.

Pakistan is currently vaccinating frontline healthcare workers and citizens over the age of 60 free of charge using Sinopharm doses donated by China.