Pakistan has received 15 million doses of Sinovac vaccines from China this week, the government confirmed on Tuesday evening.
The health ministry said five special flights of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) transported 15 million doses of Sinovac vaccines from China to Pakistan during the last five days.
The special flights PAK-6857, PAK-6858, PK-6856, PK-6852 and PK-6853 took off from Capital International Airport Beijing to Islamabad between October 29 to November 2, with around 15 million doses of Sinovac vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, according to an official statement.
In a tweet, the Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque mentioned that China had played a vital role in Pakistan’s vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus and had so far provided the latter with 110 million doses of vaccines, making the backbone of Pakistan’s inoculation drive.
Pakistan was the first country in the world, which received a coronavirus vaccine from China as a donation. The first donation of Sinopharm vaccine was delivered to Pakistan in February 2021. Following the first batch, Pakistan has received millions of coronavirus vaccines from China.
According to official figures, over 70 million people have received at least one dose and 40 million are fully vaccinated in Pakistan. The target of vaccinating 70 million people was set for the end of the year. However, it was achieved even two months ahead. PIA has so far airlifted over 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
