The government has decided to fix the price of Covid-19 vaccine imported by the private sector to ensure that people are not fleeced. Well-informed sources relayed that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan’s (DRAP) processing board will fix the imported vaccine’s rate. The board will meet today in Islamabad.
The sources said the DRAP will forward its recommendations regarding price cap on the vaccine to the federal cabinet for approval.
It is noteworthy that a Karachi-based pharmaceutical company has received the first consignment of Russian made Sputnik-V vaccine. An official of the private firm said that the price of the vaccine will be fixed by the government soon.
The Covid-19 vaccines would remain stored at the cold storage till approval of the price by the government. The registration process of the company’s corona vaccination centres has also been underway, Dr. Umar Chughtai said.
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The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had granted approval to Russian vaccine for Covid-19, for emergency use in February. Sputnik V is one of four vaccines approved for emergency use in Pakistan, in addition to those by China’s Sinopharm and CanSinoBio, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford University shot.
COVID-19 cases in Pakistan
The National ComÂmand and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday revealed that the number of active Covid-19 cases had increased by about 50 per cent in three weeks as another 2,511 people got infected in a single day.
Meanwhile, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood received the Covid-19 vaccine at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad on Tuesday.
Mr Dawood advised elderly people to benefit from the facility.
The number of active cases was around 16,000 last month, but it rose to 23,355 on Tuesday. The number of cases started increasing after the NCOC had on Feb 24 decided to relax most restrictions on commercial activities, schools, offices and other workplaces, allowing them to function at full strength.
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However, with no let-up in Covid-19 cases, the NCOC re-imposed the restrictions on March 10.
The NCOC also announced a two-week spring vacation in educational institutions in 10 cities, whereas Balochistan and Sindh were suggested to limit attendance to 50pc.