Islamabad: The government has revised guidelines for AstraZeneca vaccines and has allowed citizens who are 18 or older to get the jab which was earlier restricted to those aged 40 and above.

The announcement was made by Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan said who said that Pakistanis who are travelling to Saudi Arabia can get the AstraZeneca vaccine after showing their travel documents adding that government will issue the directives in this regard later today.

“Saudi Arabia has so far approved Pfizer and AstraZeneca only and Sinovac and Sinopharm are not included in Saudi Arabia's approved vaccine list. Talks are underway with the Kingdom regarding World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccine,” he said.

SAPM further stated that WHO should ensure that its approved vaccines are recognized in the world.

Saudi Arabia has only approved Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, while in Pakistan, mostly Chinese vaccines are administered.