Pakistan has decided to pre-book COVID-19 vaccine from Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan's federal minister for science and technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain said. According to Hussain, in the first stage, 1.2 million doses of the vaccine will be procured and administered free of cost to frontline medical staff in and after the first quarter of 2021, and the private sector will also be encouraged to get the vaccine and administer it to the people. The official told Xinhua that the availability of the vaccine and its cost effectiveness as compared to available vaccines from other countries are also the main factors for Pakistan to pre-book it. Pakistan had been checking vaccines from different countries before taking the final decision of pre-booking. Like other companies, Sinopharm also shared its data with Pakistan, and the country chose it after finding it effective on the virus, and safe on human health. Pakistan's Health Ministry said the government has allocated 150 million U.S. dollars for vaccine procurement and will administer it to the public in phases.
