No final deal yet with China’s Sinopharm on COVID-19 vaccine — Pakistan health chief

A promoter talks about the COVID-19 vaccine produced by Sinopharm subsidiary CNBG during a trade fair in Beijing on September 6, 2020. (AP)

• Dr. Faisal Sultan says government has not placed any final order yet to acquire COVID-19 vaccines, no manufacturers have accepted Pakistan’s request so far
• Says Sinopharm submitted data with the drug regulatory authority, health authorities now negotiating with the firm but no final agreement yet 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s de facto health minister has said the government did not as yet have a “final agreement” with China’s Sinopharm to acquire vaccine doses, Pakistani media reported on Friday.
The health chief’s admission raises alarming questions about Pakistan’s plans to vaccinate its 220 million population as it battles a deadly second wave of the coronavirus.
Pakistan said last month it would purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Sinopharm in the first official confirmation of a vaccine purchase by the South Asian country.
But Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, told Pakistan’s The News in an interview that while Sinopharm had submitted its data with the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and health authorities were negotiating with the firm, there was no final agreement on the supply of the vaccine as yet.
He said the government had not placed any final order yet to acquire COVID-19 vaccines from any country, nor had any vaccine manufacturers accepted Pakistan’s request to supply the doses.
“Although, we are striving hard to get the first batch of COVID-19 vaccine at the earliest for our frontline workers and others but the final order has not yet been placed and accepted [by any vaccine manufacturer],” Sultan told The News, adding that no exact date could be given on when Pakistan would have the vaccine.
He said health authorities and an expert committee were studying various options to acquire one or more “safe and effective” vaccines for the public.
“The second vaccine candidate is Cansino, whose trials are currently underway and they are a couple of weeks away from submitting their data to us,” Sultan said. “We are also interested in Russian vaccine Sputnik V, who have submitted some data but we have sought more data from them.”
Negotiations were also ongoing, Sultan said, with the British-Swedish manufacturer Astrazeneca.