Pakistan military gets Covid-19 vaccine from China

BEIJING: The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has delivered a batch of COVID-19 vaccine to the Pakistani military, according to a written statement by China’s Ministry of National Defense here on Sunday.

The Pakistani military is the first foreign military to receive the COVID-19 vaccine assistance from the Chinese military, according to the statement.

To realize China’s pledges of making the COVID-19 vaccine as global public goods, and under the request of Pakistani army, the PLA had offered it a batch of COVID-19 vaccines, said the Chinese Ministry of National Defense.

He noted that the Chinese PLA would continue to make contributions to building a global community of health for all.

According to the Global Times, the vaccine offered to Pakistan was produced by Chinese pharmaceutical Sinopharm.

Offering vaccines to the Pakistani military, upon the request, reflected the deep and solid ties between China and Pakistan, said Li Haidong, a professor at the Institute of International Relations of the China Foreign Affairs University, noting that it also reflected the high level of mutual trust.

He said that China first donated vaccines to governments of many developing countries because public was in more urgent need of vaccines than the military.

“Also because the strict management mode within the military, there are far less people infected in the military than among the public,” Li noted.

It is possible that the PLA would continue offering vaccines to more foreign militaries to help their battle against the pandemic, which demonstrated China’s efforts to assist the world to fight the virus in various fields across a wide range, Li stated.

Zhou Bo, former director of the Security Cooperation Center of the Office for International Military Cooperation at China’s Ministry of National Defense, told the Global Times on Sunday said exchanges between militaries were closely linked with their countries’ diplomatic relations.

Last week, the first batch of 500,000 China-assisted COVID-19 vaccines arrived in Pakistan, 10 days after Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi promised Pakistan that China would assist Pakistan with vaccines and accelerated vaccines exports to the country.

In addition to Pakistan, China has provided vaccine assistance to 13 developing countries, including Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka. It also planed to offer assistance to 38 more developing countries, Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at the routine press conference on February 1.