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Pakistan to receive vaccine doses via COVAX programme this week: sources

By
Amina Amir

May 03, 2021

People stand behind a container holding doses of AstraZeneca's vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that arrived under the COVAX scheme, in Alajuela, on the outskirts of San Jose, Costa Rica April 7, 2021. — Reuters/File.
  • Pakistan expects to receive vaccine doses under the COVAX vaccine facility from May 7, sources said.
  • The first consignment will bring 1.2 million doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine to the country.
  • Through the COVAX vaccine facility, Pakistan has planned to vaccinate 20% of its population free of charge, sources said.

Pakistan is expected to receive vaccine doses via the COVAX vaccine facility starting this week, sources said Monday.

According to the sources, the first consignment will bring 1.2 million doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine to the country. The shipment is arriving from South Korea.

The first batch is expected to reach the country on Friday, May 7, sources said.

Through the COVAX vaccine facility, Pakistan has planned to vaccinate 20% of its population free of charge, sources said.

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Last month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced that Pakistan will receive 15 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine from the COVAX scheme as the country continues to battle the pandemic's third wave.

Qureshi took to Twitter to announce the development after his meeting with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Berlin.

"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," FM Qureshi said in a tweet.

The development came as there were reports of a delayed AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine delivery to Pakistan, as India had diverted the supplies to meet its domestic needs, with the third wave of the virus leading to a surge in coronavirus cases across the world.

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.