As the UK government will add Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac to its list of approved vaccines from November 22, it would benefit thousands of Pakistani travellers who have received Chinese vaccines.
British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner revealed the British Government’s decision in his tweet on Tuesday.
“Good news for Pakistanis travellers: The British government adds Sinovac, Sinopharm and Covaxin to the fully vaccinated list for inward travel rules from 22 November,” Mr Turner wrote.
According to the UK Government’s notification, travellers must have a complete course at least 14 days before they arrive in England. “From 4 am 22 November, World Health Organization’s Emergency Use Listing (WHO EUL) vaccines: Sinovac, Sinopharm Beijing and Covaxin,” read the notification.
Pakistan has administered at least 113,188,078 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine so far. The number of people fully vaccinated is 45,084,862 while 75,278,560 people have received a single dose of the vaccine. During the past 24 hours, 1,216,641 people were vaccinated around the country.
Pakistan’s vaccination campaign largely relies on Chinese vaccines. According to Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque, China during the corona pandemic China has provided 110 million doses of vaccines (purchased plus donation) to Pakistan, making the “backbone of Pakistan’s inoculation drive”. So far, Pakistan has received 130 million doses of Corona vaccines. Pakistan has also received over 100,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine under the Covax facility.
Pakistan received the first batch of Sinopharm vaccines in February 2021, as China donated half a million doses of Sinopharm vaccine to the country. Last month, China donated another three million doses of corona vaccines to Pakistan. Pakistan has also purchased corona vaccines from China.
China’s CanSino Bio also conducted the phase 3 clinical trial of the vaccine in Pakistan, which is now approved bytheDrug Regulatory of Pakistan (DRAP) for emergency use.The majority of Pakistanis have received Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines.
