Although the government of Pakistan is yet to procure more vaccines for coronavirus, it is still hoped to vaccinate at least 70 million people by the end of this year.
However, Pakistan is facing hurdles as it is experiencing the ban on the export of the vaccine imposed by India. Pakistan had hoped to obtain a maximum number of vaccines from New Delhi.
Despite many hurdles, Pakistan is hopeful that the daily number of people who vaccinate hit 100,000 persons per day soon. They are also confident that the vaccination will reach 200,000 per day in the coming weeks and months as it is gaining momentum in the country.
Moreover, the present government has so far approved $150 million for obtaining vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic and another official summary will be forwarded to get an approval of $90 million for this purpose obtained from the Islamic Development Bank.
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Wholly, the allotted amount will go up to $240 million to acquire the vaccine that had become limited in all countries.
Asad Umar, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) chairperson told the publication that Pakistan has so far acquired 6 million vaccine doses and Islamabad has taken doses from donor countries.
Umar blamed a lack of accessibility to acquire the vaccine over financial reasons, said that the money is available. He further shared that many Pakistanis had contacted the government to make contributions, but the government is querying them to donate vaccines instead.
“The availability of vaccines had become problematic but we will ensure its availability in our country,” said Umar confidently. The government had procured 6 million vaccines so far, but the private sector had brought 60,000 vaccine doses only.
Umar added the private sector could bring the vaccine if they could acquire it from anywhere.
