Pakistan to get 45 million doses of Made in India COVID-19 vaccines in March: Report

Pakistan is likely to receive 45 million Indian manufactured doses of COVID-19 vaccine in March, as per reports. While briefing the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), National Health Service (NHS) Secretary Amir Ashraf Khawaja said that the doses would be received under an agreement with Vaccine alliance Gavi, said reports. Out of the total, 16 million would be received by June this year. Pakistan will get free doses of India-made Oxford-AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, which would give cover to 20 per cent of the population of the country. 

According to Pakistan’s local media outlet, The Nation, the secretary of health said that it was expected that the coronavirus vaccine would arrive from Gavi in the first week of March, however, the delivery had been a little delayed. The Pakistani official added that now, the vaccine doses are expected to arrive within the next few weeks. It is worth noting that back in September, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) had signed an agreement with Pakistan to provide the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. 

Pak to tackle pandemic through herd immunity 

Gavi is a public-private global health partnership with the goal of increasing access to immunisation in poor countries. Pakistan would get the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India by the middle of March. So far, four vaccines, including Sinophram (China), Oxford-AstraZeneca (UK), Sputnik-V (Russia) and Cansino Bio (China), have been registered in the country. During the PAC meeting, NHS Secretary also informed that nearly 27.5 million people had been vaccinated in the country against COVID-19. Meanwhile, according to PTI, Pakistan is not planning to buy vaccines anytime soon as it aims to tackle the pandemic through herd immunity and donated vaccines from countries like China.

Herd immunity occurs when a large number of people, usually 70 to 90 per cent, become immune to a contagious disease after being infected with it. According to the NHS, the Pak ministry had conducted a survey to ascertain the figures of those who have developed antibodies against coronavirus. The survey disclosed that around 15 per cent of the population has developed antibodies and that they did not need to be immunised.