Pakistan approves AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in Pakistan, the health minister said on Saturday, making it the first coronavirus vaccine to be given the green light for use in the South Asian country.

Pakistan, which is experiencing a growing number of coronavirus infections, said its vaccines would be purchased from multiple sources.

“DRAP has granted an emergency use authorization for AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine,” Health Minister Faisal Sultan told Reuters.

Approval has been given to get more than one million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, he said.

“We are in the process of obtaining vaccines of western origin and other vaccines through bilateral purchasing agreements as well as through the COVAX facility,” he said.

The Chinese vaccine is awaiting approval from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), which has received and reviewed its data.

Pakistan has spoken to a number of vaccine manufacturers, and Sultan said the country could get “tens of millions” of doses of the vaccine under a deal with China’s CanSinoBio.

The vaccine company’s Ad5-nCoV COVID-19 candidate is nearing completion of Phase III clinical trials in Pakistan.

Efficiency is a key factor, Sultan said. “We have and are monitoring the evolving stories about the effectiveness of a number of vaccines.”

Sultan said preliminary results from Cansino could arrive in mid-February. He added that Pakistan was considering committing to Russian vaccine Sputnik V.

Pakistan reported 2,432 new coronavirus infections and 45 deaths on Friday, bringing the total number of cases to more than 516,000 and deaths close to 11,000.

“Our goal is for most of the population to be covered for free,” the minister said, adding that the private sector could also be allowed once the supply is available to a licensed company.

Sultan added that Pakistan has adequate cold chain facilities for most types of vaccines.