January 21, 2020: Special Assistant to PM on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr. Faisal Sultan has said the government will provide corona vaccine free of cost to the general public.
Talking to media in Islamabad on Wednesday evening, he said that negotiations with two pharmaceutical companies are underway for procurement of vaccine as shortlisted by the Technical Committee with the approval of the Drug Regularity Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).
He said Pakistan is also in touch with the Chinese government for procuring anti-corona vaccine and the ambassador of the UK was also engaged in this regard.
Dr Faisal Sultan said the government machinery is functional in procuring vaccines and we will be able to vaccinate 1.1 million people and procure vaccines for 200 million populations till the first quarter of this year.
He said the staff of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) will be tasked with shifting and storing vaccines across the country. He said that frontline health workers will be vaccinated in the first phase of this process and it will be expanded gradually for other health workers and aged patients above the age of 60 years. He said that the registration of 400 thousand health workers has been completed in this regard.
