First batch of Chinese vaccine arrives in Pakistan: official

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan’s health aide Faisal Sultan has said that the the first batch of Chinese Coronavirus vaccine Sinopharm  has reached Pakistan.

“Grateful to China and everyone who made this happen,” Sultan tweeted.

National Command and Operation Centre and provinces have played an instrumental role in tackling the disease in Pakistan, he said.

“I salute our frontline healthcare workers for their efforts & they’ll be first to get vaccinated,” he added.

Alhamdulilah the first batch of Sinopharm vaccine has arrived! Grateful to China and everyone who made this happen. NCOC & provinces played an instrumental role in tackling COVID. I salute our frontline healthcare workers for their efforts & they'll be first to get vaccinated

— Faisal Sultan (@fslsltn) February 1, 2021

A special Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane carrying the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine doses landed in Islamabad from Beijing on Monday morning.

China’s State Councilor and Foreign Minister, Wang Yi during a phone call with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi last week had promised to provide 500,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Pakistan by January 31.

Beijing had asked Islamabad to send an airplane to get the vaccines, APP reported.

Later, Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Hua Chunying had also confirmed that in order to support the brothers and sisters in Pakistan, the Chinese government would provide a batch of vaccines as aid and would actively coordinate with the relevant Chinese enterprise to speed up export of vaccines to Pakistan.

The National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), which oversees Pakistan’s coronavirus response, had sent the special aircraft to bring the vaccine that Beijing had promised to provide.

The NCOC has taken necessary steps to store the vaccine in Islamabad and onward supply to various federating units particularly to Sindh and Balochistan through the air.

It has also set up a vaccine nerve center with the provincial and district level vaccine administration and coordination and adult vaccination centers.

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Pakistan have been working together to overcome difficulties.