Govt instructs expectant mothers to refrain from coronavirus vaccination

• The Government of Pakistan has instructed expectant mothers to refrain from taking locally available vaccines against coronavirus.
  
• Instructions apply to Chinese Sinopharm, CanSinoBio, Sinovac, and Russian Sputnik vaccines
• Limited tests have been performed with the vaccines on pregnant women, which is why govt cannot endorse its use, officials say.
  

The Government of Pakistan has instructed expectant mothers to refrain from vaccination against coronavirus, it wasreported on Tuesday.

The instructions apply to the Chinese Sinopharm, CanSinoBio, Sinovac, and Russian Sputnik-V vaccines currently available in the local market.

According to the guidelines issued by the authorities, limited tests have been performed on pregnant women with the vaccines, therefore there is inadequate data to draw conclusions on whether coronavirus vaccination is safe for expectant mothers or not.

Officials at the Ministry of Health said do not have clear data from coronavirus vaccine trials on pregnant women.

Read more: COVID-19: 5,000 expectant Pakistani mothers request urgent repatriation from Dubai

Meanwhile, Pakistan has started the registration of people above 40 years for coronavirus vaccination from today.

Pakistan is officially using Chinese vaccines to inoculate people who are 50 years of age or above, as well as healthcare workers. The Russian Sputnik-V vaccine is available for purchase commercially.

A digital portal has been launched by the federal government for registration to receive a vaccine. A code is assigned to the person and they can then go to a designated vaccination centre and get a jab.

According to Dr Faisal Sultan, the de facto health minister, around 2 million people have been vaccinated in the country so far.