The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health, Dr. Faisal Sultan, has announced that Pakistan will start inoculating its senior citizens against COVID-19 this week using China’s Sinopharm vaccine.
He said, “We will be starting with Sinopharm. Later, other [vaccines] will come into play, including the AstraZeneca”.
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This development comes a month after Dr. Sultan had stated that the Sinopharm vaccine is not recommended for people aged 60 years and above, and added that more data is needed to make a final decision.
However, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) recently authorized the use of the Sinopharm vaccine for senior citizens.
A DRAP official had said earlier there was no evidence or study to support the belief that the Sinopharm vaccine is safe for senior citizens.
“It did not mean that the vaccine was hazardous for senior citizens. We took the decision as we did not want to go ahead with it without having a clinical study. We had announced that once people over 60 years of age were vaccinated with Sinopharm. DRAP will also allow the vaccine for emergency use in Pakistan,” he added.
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Dr. Sultan said that the Sinopharm vaccine is available in Pakistan and that senior citizens will receive a text message on their number with instructions for the inoculation.
Meanwhile, the Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives, Asad Umar, announced that the vaccination of senior citizens in Pakistan will begin tomorrow (10 March), and it will be administered in reverse order by age.
