Pakistan rolls out locally produced CanSino vaccine

China has supplied its single-jab vaccine in bulk in concentrated form for filling and packaging in Pakistan, where it has been rebranded as PakVac.

Pakistan was among the first countries to take part in the clinical trial of China's CanSino vaccine.

Pakistan was among the first countries to take part in the clinical trial of China's CanSino vaccine.

Pakistan has launched a locally produced coronavirus vaccine PakVac amid a decline in fatalities and infections from the global pandemic.

The development comes weeks after China supplied its CanSino vaccine in bulk in a concentrated form for filling and packaging in Pakistan.

The Chinese concentrate is being processed, sterilised and packed at a health facility in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, with capacity for rolling out three million doses a month.

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Pakistan's Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar on Tuesday thanked China for helping Pakistan with the vaccine during a ceremony to mark the occasion, alongside Chinese ambassador to Pakistan, Nong Rong.

"As a country which consider itself to be the best friend of China, an iron brother of China, it gives us immense pride and joy to see the development that is taken place," he said.

Some 118,000 doses of PakVac vaccine have been produced so far.

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'Not an easy task'

Addressing the launch ceremony in Islamabad, Faisal Sultan, adviser to the prime minister on health affairs, congratulated the NIH staff, observing that producing vaccine from the raw material was "not an easy task."

He also thanked Beijing for assisting Islamabad to locally produce the vaccine.

Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong, in his remarks, said his country will continue to assist Pakistan in its fight against the pandemic.

The latest development comes amid a decline in fatalities and infections from coronavirus.

Pakistan has registered 20,850 deaths among 922,824 confirmed Covid-19 cases since last year.

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