Pakistan orders doses of Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines

Faisal Sultan, a special assistant to the prime minister, said on Twitter that an order has been placed for the purchase of Chinese-made vaccines which will be delivered to Pakistan within days.

Pakistan’s top health official said Wednesday his country will purchase 1 million doses of China's Sinopharm vaccine and 60,000 doses of the vaccine made by Chinese company CanSino Biologics.

The purchases will be in addition to 1.5 million doses of vaccine which China is donating to Pakistan in phases. (Bloomberg file photo)

Faisal Sultan, a special assistant to the prime minister, said on Twitter that an order has been placed for the purchase of Chinese-made vaccines which will be delivered to Pakistan within days.

The purchases will be in addition to 1.5 million doses of vaccine which China is donating to Pakistan in phases.

Without giving more details, Sultan said Pakistan will also receive several million doses of vaccines in April.

Pakistan is currently facing a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Also Wednesday, Education Minister Shafqat Mahmood said the government is ordering the closure of schools in the capital, Islamabad and in several high-risk cities until April 11.

Pakistan has reported 637,042 virus cases and 13,965 deaths from coronavirus since last year.