Pakistan to purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China’s Sinopharm


FILE PHOTO: A Sinopharm sign is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, September 5, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

(Reuters) – Pakistan will purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China’s Sinopharm, a minister said on Thursday.

“The Cabinet Committee has decided to initially purchase 1.2 million doses of the vaccine from the Chinese company Sinopharm, which will be provided free of cost to frontline workers in the first quarter of 2021,” Pakistani Minister for Science and Technology said on Twitter.

China approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm on Thursday, its first approved shot for general public use.