The country of 216 million people has yet to secure substantial volumes of vaccines for mass inoculation, with only 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine donated by China thus far.
Pakistan will allow private
companies to import coronavirus vaccines and has agreed to
exempt such imports from price caps, according to documents
reviewed by Reuters, even as the nation scrambles to secure
supplies.
The documents show the National Health Services, Regulations
and Coordination division had sought a special cabinet exemption
to allow for such imports, while excluding the imported vaccines
from the strict price cap regime that is typically applied to
all drug sales within the country.
The documents show the cabinet of Prime Minister Imran Khan
has approved the proposal.
Health Minister Faisal Sultan
confirmed the cabinet decision to Reuters.
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Limited vaccine supply
The decision is significant as Pakistan has yet to secure
substantive volumes of vaccines from any companies and it only
this month launched a vaccination drive with 500,000 doses of
Sinopharm’s vaccine donated by long-time ally China.
Those shots are first being given out to frontline health
workers on a priority basis.
Sultan said that Pakistan still planned to inoculate its
population for free and only a “small minority” who wish to pay
for the shots will have that option in the open market.
“Only those who wish to get it via private sector will pay
anything,” he said. “Personally, my assessment is that when the
vaccines are available and we have market competition, that will
automatically set the prices.”
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COVAX initiative
Pakistan, which has recorded more than 550,000 cases of Covid-19 and more than 12,000 deaths, is still largely reliant
on the GAVI/WHO COVAX vaccine initiative that is aiming to
provide shots to poorer nations.
Pakistan has yet to receive any of the 17 million doses it
is expected to get through the COVAX initiative.
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Source: Reuters