ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has approached two coronavirus vaccine manufacturers after Prime Minister Imran Khan allowed authorities to pre-book the vaccine.
Talking to a private television channel on Tuesday, Parliamentary Secretary for Health Dr Nausheen Hamid said the federal government has shortlisted two major pharmaceutical companies for the supply of Covid vaccine. However, the government has not revealed the names of the vaccine manufacturers yet.
In the first phase, she said, 10 million Pakistanis will get the vaccine; frontline workers and people over 65 years of age will be given priority.
Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Science and Technology Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman had last week said the Pfizer vaccine, celebrated worldwide for its reported 90pc efficacy, was not suitable for Pakistan due to its sub-zero storage requirements.
He said the vaccine needed to be kept at -80 °C temperature, which in his view was a major problem for developing countries like Pakistan, as the country lacked the “cold chain” necessary to transport the vaccine in such temperatures from the point of origin to the hospitals.
