PIA brings 5.9m Covid doses from China

Govt to vaccinate 75m people by the end of 2021

ISLAMABAD/BEIJING:

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) continues to uplift Covid-19 vaccines from China to Pakistan as its two special cargo flights transported a new batch of 5.9 million doses from Beijing Capital International Airport to Islamabad.

Special cargo flights – PK-6852 and PK-6853 took off from Beijing for Islamabad on Monday and Tuesday and transported 5.9 million doses, Qadir Bux Sangi, PIA Country Manager for China said on Tuesday.

On August 29, the national flag carrier airlifted around 12 million doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccines through its four special cargo flights.

The PIA special flights PK-6852, PK-6853, PK-6854 and PK-6856 transported 12 million doses of Sinovac vaccine procured from China for vaccination of people under government's ongoing prevention and control drive against Covid-19 pandemic, he added.

He said that under the leadership of CEO Arshad Malik, the national flag carrier had so far airlifted over 63 million doses of anti-Covid-19 vaccine through 49 special flights.

The government under its mass vaccination drive has set a target to vaccinate 75 million people by the end of 2021.

Chinese vaccines namely Sinopharm, Sinovac and CanSino besides other vaccines are being used in the mass vaccination drive.

The health authorities launched a nationwide vaccination drive with around a million doses of Sinopharm vaccine donated by China, starting with older people and frontline healthcare workers, in March this year.

The drive began with a focus on the oldest people in the community, generally over the age of 80 but now the vaccine is being administered to people aged over 18 years.

Islamabad received the first Covid-19 vaccine consignment after a military aircraft transported it from Beijing on February 1.