The federal government has refuted media reports that claimed that it has allowed the private sector to import the COVID-19 vaccine for those who can afford it.
Sajid Shah, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), said that there is no truth in such reports.
The CEO of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), Asim Rauf, also backed Sajid’s statement, saying, “Such permissions can’t be given at this point because governments all over the world over are struggling to procure COVID-19 vaccines”.
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The rebuttal came late on Monday, hours after several media outlets had linked the misinformation to a previous statement by the Ministry of Health.
The ministry has confirmed that the reports are incorrect and that the government is determined to carry out its three-phase plan to obtain and distribute the vaccine.
According to the statement in question by the ministry, people older than 65 years of age and the frontline health workers attending to the COVID-19 patients will be vaccinated in the first phase. Following this, the remaining healthcare workers and people between 60 and 65 years of age will get the vaccine in the second phase. Finally, the general public will be vaccinated in the final phase that is supposed to end in 2021.
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Last week, the government had approached the global vaccine alliance (Gavi) to procure vaccines for the coronavirus. The alliance has pledged vaccines for 20 percent of the population and affirmed that the doses will be available by the end of 2020.
Meanwhile, the government has also increased the vaccine procurement budget from $150 million to $250 million. The Parliamentary Secretary to the NHS, Nausheen Hamid, confirmed this while speaking to news reporters.
“We will sign a purchase agreement with more than one company to ensure that we get a vaccine,” she said.
Hamid also disclosed that Russia had recently offered its vaccine to Pakistan and that the Chinese companies currently testing the vaccine in Pakistan have committed to providing 100,000 to 500,000 doses by either the end of February or early March next year.
