Read more about Covid-19: Pak approves China s CanSino vaccine for emergency use on Business Standard. China s CanSino Covid-19 vaccine has become the second Chinese vaccine to be approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan on Friday
Immunisation is a global health and development success story, saving millions of lives each year
Vaccines reduce the risk of getting a disease by working with the body’s natural defences to build protection blocks. Globally, there are many vaccines to prevent life-threatening diseases, helping people of all ages live longer and healthier. Immunisation currently prevents 2-3 million deaths every year from diseases like diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, influenza and measles.
Access to quality immunisation as part of a healthcare system is an indisputable right. Vaccines are also critical to the prevention and control of infectious-disease outbreaks. Yet despite tremendous progress, far too many people – including nearly 20 million infants each year – have insufficient access to vaccines. In a highly populated, resource-constrained country like Pakistan, universal immunisation must be the cornerstone of an effective public health strategy.
Covid-19 vaccine
Recently, China has given approval to the CanSinoBio coronavirus vaccine, making it the second Chinese vaccine to receive approval by the CCP. The Pakistani Health Minister Faisal Sultan reported yesterday i.e. February 12 reported that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has also given its approval for the vaccine.
The Chinese developed Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine, having been tested for effectiveness and safety, had also been approved by Pakistan in January for emergency use. Pakistan just recently begun its vaccination programme on February 3, having received vaccines free of cost from China.
Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) had already approved three other Corornavirus vaccines for use in Pakistan, China’s Sinopharm, Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine and Russia’s Sputnik-V.
Karachi, February 13: Pakistan on Friday evening confirmed it had approved the second Chinese vaccine against the Covid-19 pandemic.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on health Dr Faisal Sultan said the government had given authorization of the emergency use of single-dose CanSino vaccine.
The approval by Drug Regulation Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), he said, had been given after a “successful” phase-three trials of the vaccine in the country.
Pakistan is the second country after Mexico to have authorized the emergency use of the CanSino vaccine. Islamabad has already authorized the emergency use of China’s Sinopharm, Oxford-AstraZeneca, and Russia’s Sputnik vaccine.
February 14, 2021
Vaccines shall be delivered by the federal government to the provincial governments, who in turn will distribute these among district health administrations
COVAX facility is not the name of a Covid-19 vaccine, as might be perceived from the word. It is, in fact, the abbreviated form of Covid-19 Global Vaccines Access facility (COVAX facility). This facility focuses on provision of innovative and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccination across the globe. COVAX is coordinated by the GAVI, the CEPI (Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations) and the WHO (World Health Organisation). GAVI, leading the COVAX facility, is the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisations, founded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the UNICEF, the WHO and the World Bank Group.