Pakistan's health chief says more than 5 million COVID-19 vaccines administered so far

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has administered more than five million doses of COVID-19 vaccines since it began the immunization campaign in February this year, announced the country's top health official in a Twitter post on Saturday.
"Let us reaffirm our commitment to the data driven, balanced response that has been the hallmark of the Pakistan Covid effort with dividends in health AND with economic good news [of] 3.94% growth," said the prime minister's advisor on public health Dr. Faisal Sultan.
Pakistan began the inoculation drive for frontline health workers and elderly citizens after receiving its first batch of Sinopharm vaccine from China, though it later expanded the program and is currently inoculating people aged 30 or above.
Apart from getting these COVID-19 shots from China, a private Pakistani company also imported 50,000 doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
Earlier this month, the country received 1.2 million doses of Britain's AstraZeneca under the COVAX program which is managed by the World Health Organization to ensure equitable distribution of coronavirus jabs among developing nations.
Pakistan's National Command and Operation Center, which oversees the country's pandemic response, recently announced that the first locally produced batch of China's CanSino vaccine will be available for use by the end of May.
The single-dose vaccine is being processed at the National Institute for Health in the capital Islamabad.
Pakistan on Saturday reported 4,007 new coronavirus cases with 88 fatalities in the last 24 hours.
The country's southern province of Sindh decided earlier in the day to retain its current virus curbs, as Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah pointed out that COVID-19 cases were on the rise since Eid al-Fitr which made it difficult for his administration "to ease restrictions in the province."

Pakistan's health chief says more than 5 million COVID-19 vaccines administered so far