ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday rolled out its single-dose homemade Covid-19 vaccine named ‘PakVac’ which was produced with the help of all-weather friend China in a bid to vaccinate all eligible individuals.
The PakVac vaccine showed promising results as the efficacy at preventing symptomatic cases stood at around 75 percent. Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Cansino helped the Pakistani nerve center on Covid to develop the 120,000 doses in the first phase.
The material for the jabs is being brought to the South Asian country in a concentrated form while the packaging was completed at the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the country’s federal capital.
The launch ceremony of PakVac Covid-19 vaccine held at NIH. Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, congratulated and appreciated the NIH team for doing a tremendous job. pic.twitter.com/aXpb7YUUPX
— NIH Pakistan (@NIH_Pakistan) June 1, 2021
Federal Minister and NCOC Chief Asad Umar while addressing the inauguration ceremony said people preferred the Chinese-manufactured vaccines over Western manufactured jabs. The PTI leader termed the production of PakVac as a ‘revolution’. We also need to promote it, he added.
He also felicitated the health officials in Pakistan, along with their Chinese associates who helped in setting up the first batch of more than 0.1 million doses. Asad Umer also hailed the government’s smart strategy to cope amid the third wave of deadly news.
Prime minister’s aide on health Dr. Faisal Sultan also thanked iron friend China saying that it requires a lot of hard work to develop a vaccine and meeting all standards despite having raw material.
Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong also congratulated NIH officials for successfully developing the first batch of PakVac.
Happy to witness launching of locally made anti-Covid vaccine PakVac in collaboration with Cansino Biologics Inc. China. A new stride of Sino-Pak cooperation which contributes to Pakistan’s anti-pandemic efforts & joint efforts in building a Global Community of Health for All. pic.twitter.com/wz1FQciBU7
— Nong Rong (@AmbNong) June 2, 2021
Meanwhile, according to a report in a Pakistani newspaper, health authorities in Pakistan were considering using the name CanSinoBio as Chinese officials seem sensitive about the names of their products. With the consent of top officials, the name PakVac was used for the first batch while it is not certain for future batches.
As of Wednesday [June 02], Pakistan has administered 7.6 million vaccine doses with supplies from three Chinese companies — Sinopharm, Sinovac, and CanSinbio along with Oxford’s AstraZeneca and newly imported Pfizer.
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