Pakistan on Tuesday launched a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine- ‘PakVac’ developed with Chinese help. The Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan announced that the mass production of the vaccine will begin soon.
Thanking China, Sultan said, “China was already a friend and came forward when coronavirus hit Pakistan.” He also lauded the National Institute of Health (NIH) for its pathbreaking development.
“Developing the vaccine from raw materials is not an easy task. (We are) proud of the people that developed the vaccine at the NIH,” Dr Sultan added.
PakVac is the localised version of China’s Cansino vaccine. The vaccine will be filled and packaged in Pakistan and sold under the brand name PakVac.
In order to boost its vaccination programme, Pakistan launched its locally made #covid19 vaccine ‘PakVac. It has been developed with the help of its ally China.@SaroyaHem tells you more pic.twitter.com/daILOo7Yqg
— WION (@WIONews) June 2, 2021
Pakistan will be manufacturing the Chinese vaccine developed by China’s Cansino Bio Inc. Experts and raw materials that were transported by China in early May. Dr Sultan took to Twitter to inform that the PakVac vaccine has passed rigorous internal quality control checks and testing and is fit for production. Faisal Sultan congratulated NIH Pakistan team for successfully taking the vaccine to fill-finish stage from concentrate.
Congratulations to the NIH Pak team and its leadership for successful fill/finish (from concentrate) of the Cansino vaccine with the help of Cansino Bio Inc. China. The product has passed the rigorous internal QA testing. An imp step to help in our vaccine supply line pic.twitter.com/hrkySTJxPX
— Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) May 24, 2021
An overwhelmed Asad Umar chief of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) remarked that it was an “important” day for Pakistan.
Chinese Ambassador Nong Rong, in his address, added that Pakistan is the ‘first country to accept the Chinese vaccine as a gift’. He also said that PakVac’s production is an example of the friendship shared between the two countries.
Meanwhile, the NCOC Chief informed that the Covid-19 situation continues to remain worrisome in the country with a high number of patients needing hospitalization in the third wave as compared to the first. He also added that the number of patients on oxygen support was 60% more than the first wave.
Pakistan reported 1,771 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 922,824, as per the Ministry of National Health Services data.
