PAKISTAN’S National Institute of Health (NIH) has collaborated with China to produce the first batch of a single-dose coronavirus vaccine called CanSino.
The regularity and health authority body in Pakistan will examine the vaccine and give final approval.
"Congratulations to the NIH Pak team and its leadership for successful fill/finish (from concentrate) of the Cansino vaccine with the help of Cansino Bio Inc. China. The product has passed rigorous internal QA testing. An imp step to help in our vaccine supply line" said Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the prime minister on National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination.
Since April, as many as 124,000 CanSino jabs have been developed in the NIH plant.
After approval from regulators, the NIH plans to produce three million doses per month.
Currently, Pakistan is inoculating vaccines to those aged 18 and above. This means around 100 million out of 220 million people are eligible for the vaccine.
As Covid-19 vaccines are unavailable to most of the population in Pakistan due to higher sellers and shots being sold by private sellers, it is hoped that the production of CanSino will help tackle the demand for Covid vaccines and decrease Pakistan's dependence on other countries.
Pakistan has received more than 13 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines from China and the COVAX initiative.
Bob Blackman MP speaks during the event