Islamabad: Pakistan would get a total of 16 million free doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, being manufactured in India, through the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi) for inoculating 45 million people, officials told Public Accounts Committee (PAC), according to The Express Tribune.
The PAC was informed on Thursday (local time) that the country was relying mostly on free doses being provided by the Gavi to inoculate the citizens against the coronavirus as the Chinese-made vaccine CanSino would cost USD 13 or around Pakistani Rs 2,000 per person.
According to the officials, Pakistan would receive the first batch of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India by mid-March and the rest of it is expected to arrive by June.
During the PAC meeting, headed by its Chairman Rana Tanveer Hussain, the officials of the Ministry of National Health Services and the National Institute of Health (NIH) said that Pakistan would get a total of 16 million free doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is being manufactured in India, through Gavi for inoculating 45 million people against the yearly target of 70 million.