China to provide 0.5m Covid vaccines free of cost: FM

ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said yesterday that China will provide 0.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine to the government of Pakistan free of cost by January 31.

Speaking to journalists here after holding telephonic conversation with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, he said Beijing had agreed to provide these vaccines free of cost as a goodwill gesture.

The Chinese Foreign Minister told Qureshi that Pakistan could send the cargo plane to airlift the batch of vaccine. Terming it a “welcoming development” amid coronavirus situation, FM Qureshi said: “This is a very good news that we have received from our friend China.”

He said as Pakistan would be needing another 1.1 million doses for its frontline population, Chinese FM Wang Yi had agreed to handover the required vaccine by the end of February.

“In view of the strong strategic relations, China has considered Pakistan as the first country to be supplied with the Covid-19 vaccine,” he said.

The Foreign Minister said Pakistan had successfully fought the challenges of coronavirus and lauded the performance of National Command and Operation Centre in this regard.

He mentioned that the trials of Covid-19 vaccines were effectively being carried out in the country, with an objective to launch production at later stages.

Earlier, Qureshi tweeted: “Always great to speak to my friend, His Excellency FM Wang Yi. With encouraging results of Chinese vaccine and our historic relationship, Pakistan has approved emergency use authorisation of SinoPharm. Indeed Flag of Pakistan greatly appreciates the 500,000 doses of the vaccine gifted by Flag of China.”

China has played an instrumental role in Pakistan’s fight against Covid-19 with technical assistance and medical expertise, he added.

China has played an instrumental role in Pakistan’s fight against Covid-19 with technical assistance and medical expertise, said the Foreign Minister.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan on January 18 had authorised China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use in Pakistan, making it the second vaccine to get local approval.

The permission was given in the DRAP registration board meeting after China’s Sinopharm had sought permission from Pakistan for the emergency use of its Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

Pakistan, which is seeing rising numbers of coronavirus infections, also granted allowed to use Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine (AZD1222) in an emergency situation.

Pakistan on Thursday morning reported 2,363 new coronavirus cases, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 527,146.

The country’s death toll climbed to 11,157 after 54 more persons succumbed to the deadly disease during the past 24 hours.

According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), AJK witnessed 34 new Covid-19 cases and two fatalities during the past 24 hours. With the new 34 Covid-19 cases, tally in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) soared to 8,706. According to the officials, two more patients succumbed to the disease as the toll jumped to 247. A total of 8,177 patients have recovered from the virus so far in the region.

Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir collectively reported 162 coronavirus cases and three deaths during the last 24 hours. Islamabad reported 126 cases, AJK 34 cases and 3 deaths and GB reported 2 Covid-19 cases.

Punjab recorded 714 coronavirus cases and 25 deaths during the last 24 hours. The provincial total has risen to 151,603 while the death toll is 4,501. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan collectively reported 325 Coronavirus cases and 13 deaths. Of these, KP reported 295 virus cases and 12 deaths. The provincial total has risen to 64,373 while the death toll is 1,811. Meanwhile, Balochistan reported 30 cases and one more death. The total is 18,670 and the death toll is 192.

Sindh with 238,470 overall Covid-19 cases remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Punjab has overtaken Sindh in most number of casualties. So far 527,146 Coronavirus cases have been confirmed across the country; 238,470 in Sindh, 151,603 in Punjab 64,373 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 40,430 in Islamabad, 18,670 in Balochistan, 8,706 in Azad Kashmir and 4,894 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Pakistan has so far reported 480,696 recoveries, 2,179 during the last 24 hours while the recovery rate is 91.2 percent, according to the government’s portal for tracking the spread of the disease in the country.