BERLIN: Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has announced that Pakistan would receive 15 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) COVAX scheme as the country continues to battle the pandemic.
The Foreign Minister announced the development on Twitter after his meeting with German counterpart Heiko Maas. “I am happy to announce that Pakistan will receive 15 million doses under COVAX, with a commitment for these to be delivered by May,” he wrote.
Following my meeting with Foreign Minister @HeikoMaas, I am happy to announce that Pakistan will receive 15 million doses of the #COVID vaccine under COVAX, with a commitment for these to be delivered by May. ???????? ????????
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) April 12, 2021
FM Qureshi is in Berlin on a two-day official visit to celebrate 70 years of diplomatic relations with Germany. The development comes as there were reports of a delayed AstraZeneca COVID vaccine delivery to Pakistan.
The Serum Institute of India (SII) — which is supplying vaccine doses to the COVAX programme — diverted its supplies to meet India’s needs, officials had told The News.
Meanwhile, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to another Chinese vaccine, CoronaVac, a DRAP official had told The News.
This would be the fifth coronavirus vaccine and the third Chinese vaccine to be used in Pakistan. Two Chinese and one Russian vaccine are being used in the public and private sectors.
