After receiving Chinese vaccine as gift, Pakistan says drug not effective for elderly
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China gifted 500,000 Sinopharm vaccines to Pakistan which sent a special flight to bring the shots on Monday
After receiving half a million Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine doses as a gift from China, Pakistan on Thursday said that the shots are not effective for people over 60 years of age.
After conducting preliminary analysis by an expert committee, the vaccine has been recommended only for people aged 18-60 years, Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health said.
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He added that currently the vaccine has not been recommended for people above the age of 60, but a decision would be taken when more data would be available.
Also read | Pakistan launches COVID-19 vaccine campaign
China gifted 500,000 Sinopharm vaccines to Pakistan which sent a special flight to bring the shots on Monday.
Pakistan began its nationwide immunisation programme on Wednesday, and the first shots were administered simultaneously in all four provinces.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the inoculation drive in capital Islamabad.
Khan has said that frontline workers will be vaccinated first followed by elderly people, but with the latest development suggests that such people have to wait to get inoculated.
Pakistan has so far approved three Covid-19 vaccines: China's Sinopharm vaccine, Russia's Sputnik V vaccine and the Covishield vaccine developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca and manufactured by India's Serum Institute.