Pakistan health workers to begin receiving Chinese-made vaccine
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ISLAMABAD, Feb 3, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Pakistan will begin administering a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine to frontline health workers Wednesday, but the country is still months away from a mass roll-out.
Beijing has donated about 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine — which has yet to be fully approved by China’s health authorities — with a further million expected by the end of the month.
The country of 220 million has recorded more than half a million coronavirus cases, with around 11,000 deaths, but limited testing suggests true figures are likely much higher.
Lawmaker Nausheen Hamid, who leads parliament’s health committee, said a first phase of vaccinations would prioritise health workers.