TIP writes to PM: ‘Cancel private import of Covid-19 vaccines’

ISLAMABAD: Transparency International-Pakistan (TIP) has called upon Prime Minister Imran Khan to review the government’s policy of allowing private import of COVID-19 vaccines and cancel the policy altogether as it believes the decision “will provide a window of corruption” for sale of government’s vaccine to private hospitals.

In a letter addressed to the PM’s Principal Secretary Azam Khan, TIP’s Vice Chairperson Justice (retd) Nasira Iqbal termed the procurement and administration of vaccines to citizens worldwide as the state's responsibility and pointed out that Pakistan is one of the first countries in the world to allow the private sector to import and sell COVID-19 vaccines at such inflated cost.

Referring to the fixation of maximum sale price of Sputnik V Russia vaccine at Rs8,449 for two doses and China’s Conividecia at Rs4,225 per injection, TIP pointed out that the approved price for the commercial sale of Sputnik V in Pakistan is 160pc higher than the international price.

“The global price of the said vaccine is $10 per dose, which means that internationally, two doses of the vaccine are available at $20 only,” the letter states. The TIP has also flagged that in India, a single dose of Gamalya Centre/Sputnik V vaccine costs less than Indian Rs734. “With this rate, taking into consideration the currency value difference, a single dose of Sputnik V vaccine should cost approximately Rs1,500 in Pakistan. This anomaly of vaccine cost at more than 150pc higher than the international market price is another serious issue of overcharging,” the letter points out.