More Covid-19 vaccines to be registered: official.

ISLAMABAD -- As PakisAtan reported 2,521 new Covid-19 cases and 43 deaths on Sunday, the Ministry of National Health Services (MNHS) annAounced that more vaccines would be registered in the country in coming weeks.

According to the data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), out of the 43 deaths, 22 - or over 50 per cent - were reported in Punjab; six each died in Sindh, Khyber PakhtunAkhwa and Islamabad; and three died in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

MNHS spokesAAperson Sajid Shah told Dawn that more vaccines would be registered in coming weeks in the country.

'The AstraZeneca has been registered in the country for emergency use and the vaccine will come through Covax, which has pledged to provide the vaccine that would cover 20 per cent of the country's population.

Covax is an alliance set up by Global Alliance for VaccAines and Immunisation (GAVI), Coalition for EpiAdemic Preparedness InnovaAAtions (CEPI) and World Health Organisation in April last year. The alliance has pledged provision of free vaccine for 20pc of the population of different countAAries, including Pakistan.

Mr Shah said the registration of the vaccine had opened a gateway for import of the vaccine through the private sector.

He said that the government had been trying its best to get vaccine at the earliest. 'Once the frontline workers and people over the age of 65 are vaccinated, we will move to vaccinate those who are between 60 and 65 years of age,' he said.

An official of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, however, said...