Pakistan gets 1.24m AstraZeneca doses under COVAX

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan received 1.24 million more doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine under the COVAX programme Saturday.

A consignment containing 1.236 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine reached Islamabad onboard a foreign airliner, Ministry of Health spokesperson Sajid Shah confirmed.

The first shipment of the British coronavirus AstraZeneca arrived in Pakistan on May 8, according to a Ministry of Health spokesperson.

The first consignment of the vaccine included 1,248,400 doses of the vaccine. It was brought under the COVAX facility.

Pakistan was supposed to get the first tranche of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine via COVAX in March, but supply was delayed after the Serum Institute of India (SII) diverted supplies to meet its domestic needs, officials said.

So far, Pakistan has received three consignments of various coronavirus vaccines under the COVAX programme apart from this recent one. They include 1.62 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and 2.5 million doses of Moderna.

COVAX has pledged free COVID-19 vaccines for 20% of Pakistan's population.