Amid news of coronavirus vaccine trials in Pakistan, Pakistan’s federal government health authorities have confirmed that no vaccine manufacturer has yet accepted the country’s request for formal provision of the vaccine.
Dr. Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Health, said:
“While we are committed to getting the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine for workers and others as soon as possible, it has not yet been introduced. And its acceptance [by any vaccine manufacturer]. “
He noted that so far the Chinese company Sinopharm has submitted its data to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), and the health authorities are involved in negotiations on the supply of vaccines, but no agreement has been reached with them at present.
“The second vaccine candidate is the CanSino vaccine, which is currently being tested, and we still have two weeks before we get final data. We are also interested in the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, which provided some data, but we aimed to get more data before finalization, ”Sultan said.
Highlighting the acquisition of vaccines produced in the West, the health official said negotiations were underway with the manufacturer AstraZeneca, adding: “We are trying to obtain the AstraZeneca vaccine through the United Nation’s Covax facility and through direct procurement.”
Pakistani health authorities are aiming to vaccinate about 100 million adults, which is expected to take to vaccinate the target population.
Authorities said the Chinese vaccine was only 50.4% effective in Brazilian clinical trials, indicating that more data is needed as using a vaccine with 50% effectiveness would be a waste of effort and resources.
“We must evaluate the data on the effectiveness of the vaccine ourselves before choosing it for the population. We prefer a vaccine that is licensed for use in an emergency by either the US Food and Drug Administration, the European Authority, or the World Health Organization, or which has shown at least 80 to 90 per cent efficacy and safety. ” said the official. DRAP.
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