CanSino vaccine to be available for citizens by end of May.

ISLAMABAD -- The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination has said that the first batch of China's single-dose CanSino COVID-19 vaccine would be available for administration to the citizens by the end of this month after thorough rigorous quality control checks.

According to an official of the ministry, the first batch of bulk CanSino vaccine was being processed at the National Institute of Health's (NIH) plant, which was set up for this purpose last month, and a specially trained team was working on it.

He said that due to the agreement on technology transfer, the National Institute of Health would be able to produce three million doses per month which would significantly reduce the country's dependence on other countries.

He said that Pakistan would become largely self-sufficient in meeting its COVID-19 vaccine needs as it would begin producing the single-dose CanSino Bio vaccine locally. He said that China was a strong partner and had gone out of its way in keeping up a supply chain and transferring technology to Pakistan.

He said that out of the total stock of vaccine doses imported, ninety-one percent was purchased by the government while the remaining nine percent were gifted by China.

He said that the government had planned to vaccinate 70 million population by the end of the year 2021.

He said that the population of Pakistan, which is currently eligible for vaccination is 100 million out of 220 million as the vaccines have only been approved for those above 18.

He added for the first half of the year, January to June 2021, the government had received and expected to receive 19.82 million doses. He added 91% of these doses are purchased, which clearly shows we...