ISLAMABAD: As complaints of shortage of Covid-19 vaccines were being received from all federating and administrative units of the country, 1.55 million doses of Sinovac vaccine reached here from China on Sunday.
Half of the consignment was offloaded at Islamabad airport after which a special flight took off for Karachi to deliver the remaining doses ofthe vaccine there. Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, who is also the head of NCOC, has claimed in a tweet that around 5m more doses of the vaccine will arrive by the end of the current month.
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) has claimed that 2m to 3m more doses of Covid-19 vaccine will arrive by the end of the current month.
According to an NCOC statement, a special consignment of Sinovac vaccine comprising 1.55 million doses arrived at the Islamabad airport through a special PIA flight.
`This is part of a planned contracted quantity purchased from China. China, as a time-tested friend of Pakistan, has taken special measures to ensure uninterrupted supply of the vaccine to Pakistan.
`Another consignment of 2 to 3 million doses of the Chinese vaccine will be reaching Pakistan next week followed by continued supply. Measures are in place to transport these vaccines to all federating unit s according to their requirement,` the statement added.
A spokesman for the Pakistan International Airlines said a PIA flight (PK-6852) carrying the shipment ofdoses of Sinovac vaccine landed at the Islamabad International Airport at 11.30am.
He said a special PIA flight would bring 2m doses of the vaccine from China on June 22 as the national nag carrier had been using Boeing 777 for the relief operations.
