ISLAMABAD:
A Pakistan Air Force (PAF) IL-76 brought back the first batch of Sinopharm vaccine doses on Monday from China.
On January 28, the federal government gave the green light for three Covid-19 vaccines including Russia’s Sputnik-V, China’s Sinopharm and UK’s Oxford-AstraZeneca for emergency use in the country for which a step-by-step guide was also issued.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan was present at the Nur Khan airbase to receive the batch of 0.5 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, earlier gifted by China.
The initial batch of the vaccine, donated by China to Pakistan, will be administered to frontline health workers and others working at medical facilities across the country.
Sultan, tweeting after the arrival of the vaccine doses in Pakistan, thanked China for the assistance and added that the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and all the provinces played an instrumental part in tackling the pandemic in the country.
He also paid tribute to the country’s frontline health staff.
Covid-19 vaccine handing over ceremony
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said China had once again proven its everlasting friendship towards Pakistan.
While addressing the handing-over ceremony of the vaccine at the Nur Khan Airbase, the foreign minister thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping for supporting Pakistan. “This is a testament of the friendship between China and Pakistan,” the FM said referring to the 500,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses that were received as a gift from China.
He also thanked the People’s Liberation Army, Chinese doctors and experts who came to Pakistan and guided and shared their experience country’s doctors on the deadly virus.
Qureshi said that he had discussed the matter with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Jiechi in December 2020 and on January 1, 2021, the Chinese diplomat gave him the good news of China gifting half a million vaccine doses.
He also thanked Pakistan Air Force (PAF) for bringing the vaccine from China without delay. Islamabad’s top diplomat added said that the two countries had jointly started a programme to develop a vaccine, the initial trial report of which was very positive.
“The friendship between Pakistan and China is not only at the government level but on the public’s level as well,” the top diplomat stressed. “This would prove to be good news for the frontline workers and the elderly as well.”
Speaking on the occasion, the Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong said Pakistan was the first country to receive the vaccine.
“I am proud to announce that Pakistan is the first country in the world to receive the Chinese government donated vaccine. I think everyone agrees with me that it is not only the vaccine to the people needed in Pakistan but more importantly a new manifestation to our iron brotherhood.”
Beijing’s envoy also thanked Pakistan’s government for approval of the emergency use authorization for Sinopharm’s vaccine.
“We expect more cooperation to follow and more people to benefit from it,” said the Chinese envoy.
“China is ready to contribute to Pakistan’s pandemic prevention drive, economic recovery and social development.”
The NCOC has made the arrangements for the vaccine’s storage in Islamabad and has also taken measures to air-transport it to the federating units, especially Sindh and Balochistan.
Meanwhile, a vaccine nerve centre has also been established at the NCOC, taking onboard the provincial and district vaccine staff and authorities, coordination centres, and adult vaccination centres.
In addition to the 500,000 doses of Sinopharm, Pakistan secured 17 million indicative doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday, out of which 35-40 per cent or 6 to 6.8 million doses will be available within the first quarter of the current year.
