Pakistan gets first AstraZeneca vaccine shipment under COVAX facility

Published: 01:24 PM, 8 May, 2021
Shipment in Pakistan
Caption: File photo.

The first consignment of European vaccine AstraZeneca has reached Pakistan today, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

According to Health Ministry, 1.238 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine under the facility of COVAX have reached Islamabad International Airport on Saturday. Another shipment is expected to arrive in June along with Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine doses. 

https://twitter.com/usembislamabad/status/1390976795210567680

API Response: <!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en" class="dog"> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"> <title>X / ?</title> <meta name="version" content="1"> <link href="https://abs.twimg.com/favicons/twitter.3.ico" rel="shortcut icon" type="image/x-icon"> <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://abs.twimg.com/errors/fullscreen_errors-047ca1475a6efac7c9c89a9ff92b7a20.css"> </head> <body dir="auto"> <div class="top"> <svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1519 200"> <defs/> <path d="M708 103l9-5 13 1 2-2 5 1h8l1-1 42-5h7l7 3v1l12-2a9368 9368 0 0129-6l2-5 12 1 6-2 3 1 2 1v-2l13-2v1l4 2 7-1h1l17-3 1 2 4-1 18-7 3-1 4-1h9l13-1 1-4 3-2 13 1v2l22-2 10-3h6l10 5 16-5 15-3 2-1 8-4 6-2 12-1 7-2 8 5 7 1 22-9h7l5-1v-1l25-3 1 2 5 2v1h11l2 1 8-4h3l-1 1h11l10-6 6 3 9-1 4-1 1 1 1-2 6-1 1-1 10-2h2l7-5v1h4l3-1c11 0 23 2 34-3 2-2 7 0 10 0l12 1 4 1 9 2 12-1 11-3 11 1h4l10-6 17 1 2 1c9 2 19-3 22-11l1-1 9 1 15-5c3-1 9 4 9-5 5 0 5 3 5 7l2 3 4-1 4-2 9-4 3-3h3l8-4 6-3 26 2 7-4h18l7 1c10 3 13-6 17-12l8 4 3-1 14-3 15-2a38 38 0 01-5-1l-8-4 7-8 8-4-10-136-922 71 16 205z"/> <path d="M-36 193l9-5 13 1 2-2 5 1h8l1-1 42-5h7l7 3v1l12-2a9328 9328 0 0129-6l2-5 12 1 6-2 3 1 2 1v-2l13-2v1l4 2 7-1h1l17-3 1 2 4-1 18-7 3-1 4-1h9l13-1 1-4 3-2 13 1v2l22-2 10-3h6l10 5 16-5 15-3 2-1 8-4 6-2 12-1 7-2 8 5 7 1 22-9h7l5-1v-1l25-3 1 2 5 2v1h11l2 1 8-4h3l-1 1h9a6 6 0 002 0l10-6 6 3 9-1 4-1a6 6 0 001 1l1-2 6-1 1-1 10-2h2l7-5v1h4l3-1c11 0 23 2 34-3 2-2 7 0 10 0l12 1 4 1 9 2 12-1 11-3 11 1h4l10-6 17 1 2 1c9 2 19-3 22-11l1-1 9 1 15-5c3-1 9 4 9-5 5 0 5 3 5 7l2 3 4-1 4-2 9-4 3-3h3l8-4 6-3 26 2 7-4h18l7 1c10 3 13-6 17-12l8 4 3-1 14-3 15-2a37 37 0 01-5-1l-8-4 7-8 8-4-10-136-922 71 16 205z"/> </svg> </div> <div class="container"> <div class="content"> <a href="https://twitter.com" title="X logo"> <svg viewBox="0 0 24 24" aria-hidden="true" class="x-logo"><g><path d="M18.244 2.25h3.308l-7.227 8.26 8.502 11.24H16.17l-5.214-6.817L4.99 21.75H1.68l7.73-8.835L1.254 2.25H8.08l4.713 6.231zm-1.161 17.52h1.833L7.084 4.126H5.117z"></path></g></svg> </a> <h1 id="header">Nothing to see here</h1> <p id="description">Looks like this page doesn’t exist. Here’s a picture of a poodle sitting in a chair for your trouble.</p> <a id="button_search" href="/" class="button">Looking for this?</a> </div> <img id="image" src="https://abs.twimg.com/errors/ErrorState_NotFound.png" alt="A primped poodle with a bow in its hair sitting in a chair like a human."> <div class="footer"> <ul> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/" id="footer_home">Home</a></li> <li><a href="https://status.twitterstat.us/" id="footer_status">Status</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/tos" id="footer_tos">Terms of Service</a></li> <li><a href="https://twitter.com/privacy" id="footer_privacy">Privacy Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://support.twitter.com/articles/20170514" id="footer_cookie">Cookie Policy</a></li> <li><a href="https://legal.twitter.com/imprint" id="footer_imprint">Imprint</a></li> <li><a href="https://business.twitter.com/en/help/troubleshooting/how-twitter-ads-work.html" id="footer_ads">Ads info</a></li> <li dir="ltr">&copy; X Corp. <span id="copyright-year">&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;</span></li> </ul> </div> </div> </body> <script src="https://abs.twimg.com/errors/404-8651f633fd193e0b546010676a4fac06.js"></script> </html>

The Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine is arriving in Pakistan from a non-Indian source. Pakistan has managed to get his shipment from South Korea by inserting its influence with other partner organizations. 

See Also: Lockdown imposed across country except Sindh

The COVAX programme has committed 45 million doses to Pakistan up to the end of 2021, and deliveries were meant to start in March. However Serum Institute of India (SII), making the AstraZeneca vaccination, halted supplies due to its own worsening COVID-19 situation. However, Pakistan purchased 13 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from three Chinese companies, Sinopharm, CanSinoBio (6185.HK) and Sinovac. 

Only slightly more than 2 million people have been vaccinated so far in the country of 220 million people, the lowest rate in South Asia.

See Also: Pakistan posts 4,109 new corona infections, 120 deaths in a day

Pakistan started a vaccination drive in February with 1.2 million doses donated by China, and was able to procure over 4 million doses from China in April. 

Pakistan is battling with third wave of coronavirus. Its positivity rate is 9.5% and number of confirmed cases is 850,131. Total 18,677 people died of Covid-19 and 747,755 recovered so far. 

Reporter Saba Bajeer