Desk Report: India is gifting 1.60 crore Kovid vaccines to Pakistan courtesy of Kovaks initiative. Due to this, immunization program is going to be launched in the neighboring country soon. China is sending 50 million doses of covid vaccine to Pakistan for free. The Pakistani administration has also sent a special plane to China to bring the vaccine. But because of this, Islamabad has been forced to postpone the covid vaccination program. Meanwhile, the Imran Khan government is naturally happy with the news of a dose of vaccine coming from India as a gift.



Delhi planned to supply the first covid vaccine in Pakistan, the covshield vaccine produced by Oxford University and the Seram Institute of India made by AstraZeneca. But the Imran government was embarrassed by the lack of funds to buy the vaccine and the discomfort of applying for the vaccine due to deteriorating relations with India. After seeing no way out, the Pak administration decided to buy vaccines from various state governments of India.


Meanwhile, Dr Faizal Sultan, special assistant (health) to Imran Khan’s cabinet, announced on Sunday that Pakistan was going to get a vaccine made of astragenera in February. He said India would deliver 6 million doses of the vaccine to Pakistan by March. The rest of the vaccine will arrive in June. Sultan said India was sending vaccines to neighboring countries because of the Kovacs initiative.



He added on Twitter, “It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post.” This vaccine will be given to people at a premium. The vaccination program in Pakistan will start from next week. Health workers will be vaccinated first.



Free vaccinations will be provided in developing and poor countries under an agreement between GAVI and Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The CoVAX initiative will ensure that a sufficient number of vaccines are delivered to all countries in a timely manner. In Pakistan, 20 percent of the people will be vaccinated free of cost. But it is not yet clear how the Imran Khan government will vaccinate the remaining 80% of the population.

Source: Hindustan Times Bangla