Pakistan liaising with coronavirus vaccine manufacturers

ISLAMABAD: National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has been informed that the federal government is liaising with manufacturers of leading coronavirus vaccines including China. 

A statement issued on Wednesday said the government is regularly reviewing developments including data from phase three of the COVID-19 vaccine trials. The final decision about the availability of the vaccine for Pakistan would be determined through these steps.

Pakistan has already signed up for the United Nation's COVAX Facility, a global initiative aimed at equitable access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines worldwide.

There are also multiple local and China-made vaccine trials being conducting across the country. The human trials of a vaccine being developed by Chinese Company CanSino Biologics Inc started on September 22 and has over 13,000 volunteers across Pakistan.

In November, Federal Minister for Planning and Development and the NCOC chief Asad Umar said that the federal cabinet has approved procurement of the vaccines, which are expected to arrive sometime between January and March next year.