Half a million China-gifted vaccine doses arrive in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of National Health Services on Tuesday said the second batch of Sinopharm's coronavirus vaccine —  500,000 doses — has arrived in Pakistan from China.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan, along with officials from the health ministry, were present at the Nur Khan Airbase to receive the vaccine doses that arrived via an airbus.

Pakistan started its COVID-19 vaccination drive in February after the first arrival of China-gifted vaccine doses, with the frontline health workers given the priority for inoculation, while on March 10, the country started vaccination for the general public, starting with older people.

Pakistan has recorded 612,315 coronavirus cases and more than 13,000 deaths, with 2,351 infections and 61 deaths reported in the last 24 hours.

The health ministry said the vaccine doses were a "gift" from China and would be distributed among the provinces for inoculation.

Thanking China for its generous gift, Dr Sultan said Beijing has always shown unwavering support for Islamabad in times of need.