COVID-19: Pakistan allows Chinese CanSino shot for emergency use

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan told the media after being asked to confirm that the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had approved the vaccine or not.

Meanwhile, CanSinoBio last week released interim efficacy results of the vaccine including Pakistan showing 65.7 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic coronavirus cases and a 90.98 percent success rate in stopping severe infections.

"Clinical trial data (phase-3) of a one-dose Ad5-nCoV vaccine for Covid (Cansino Bio) received. Interim analysis by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee shows 65.7 percent efficacy at preventing symptomatic cases and 90.98 percent at preventing severe disease," the SAPM had said in a Tweet. 

Pakistan earlier this month started jabbing its population with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm’s vaccine donated by China. The government earlier had also approved the Russian Sputnik Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.