Pakistan to administer Pfizer vaccine to immunocompromised: Dr Faisal Sultan

• Punjab to get 26,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, Sindh 12,000. 
• KP to receive 8,000 doses while Balochistan to receive 2,000 Pfizer vaccine doses. 
• Only people with weak immune systems will be vaccinated with Pfizer, says Dr Faisal Sultan. 

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said only people with weak immune systems will be vaccinated with Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.

The top health official shared that the centre has started the distribution of the Pfizer vaccine, which arrived last month in Pakistan, to provinces and federal units for vaccination.

He said the Ministry of Health will soon release more details about the immunocompromised on the official portal.

The premier's aide said the federal government was distributing 51,000 doses of the vaccine, adding that it had received 106,000 doses of the vaccine via COVAX.

Providing a province-wise breakdown of the distribution, Dr Faisal said Punjab will receive 26,000 doses of the mRNA vaccine while Sindh will get 12,000 doses.

He said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been sent 8,000 doses while Balochistan has been given 2,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

One thousand doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be sent to Islamabad, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, he added.

Dr Faisal said the Pfizer vaccine will be used to inoculate people throughout 15 cities of Pakistan, adding that these cities had ultra-cold freezers.

Pakistan receive Pfizer vaccine under COVAX

Last month, more than 100,000 doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine arrived in Pakistan through the COVAX facility. 

The doses reached Islamabad with the help of UNICEF.

The Pfizer vaccine will be utilised across the country in the ongoing vaccination campaign, said UNICEF. 

This was the second shipment to have arrived through the COVAX facility in Pakistan. The first, which arrived on May 8, contained 1,248,400 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

COVAX is a global vaccine-sharing programme co-led by the World Health Organisation, the Gavi vaccine alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI).

It has pledged 17.2 million doses to Pakistan.