Why was Pakistan unable to buy the Corona vaccine?

Pakistan has not yet been included in the list of countries where vaccination of covid-19 has been started to be given to the general public.

Pakistan does not produce vaccines on its own and the government has not yet signed any formal agreement to purchase the vaccine.

Recently, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, National Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved the use of vaccines of two companies in Pakistan on emergency basis.

These include a vaccine made by Oxford University in Britain, which is being developed by pharmaceutical company ‘AstraZeneca’. The second vaccine is the one made by the Chinese company Cyanfarm.

However, it is not clear yet whether this vaccine will be available in Pakistan immediately after the approval.

Remember, AstraZeneca has already signed agreements to provide a large number of vaccines to many countries including Britain and India.

Cyanoform vaccine is already being used in many countries including China, and agreements have been reached with many other countries.

However, Pakistan has not yet reached a formal bilateral agreement with either of the two companies to purchase the vaccine.

Confirming this, Dr Faisal Sultan, the Prime Minister’s advisor for health affairs, recently told local media that the government had “pre-booked” one million doses of the vaccine from China’s cyanoform. That is, so many doses have been secured before formal ordering.

Officials are hopeful that Pakistan may get the vaccine from China in March, although the government has not given any clear date.

He tried to talk to Dr. Faisal Sultan about this and also asked him questions, but he did not give any answer.

Some of these questions were, why Pakistan has not yet entered into a formal agreement to buy the vaccine with these two companies or with a third company to buy the vaccine.

Has Pakistan delayed it because many countries of the world have already signed agreements to buy the vaccine? The BBC has tried to find answers to these questions.

Why Pakistan has not been able to buy the vaccine so far?

Why Pakistan could not make a purchase agreement?

Dr. Ata-ur-Rehman is the president of the National Task Force for Science and Technology and is overseeing the trials and procedures for the covid-19 vaccine in Pakistan.

He said that the reason for the non-agreement with any company to buy the vaccine is not the delay from the government.

“In fact, at the moment no vaccine-producing company is willing to take any big orders. Every company has a different ability to produce a vaccine and they already have a lot of orders. So that’s not a formal agreement Want to do. “

Why Pakistan has not been able to buy the vaccine so far?

What methods can Pakistan have for getting the vaccine?

Pakistan has two other ways of obtaining a corona vaccine, in addition to a bilateral government agreement at the government level:

One of these methods is Kovacs, which will provide vaccines to the government for 20 percent of the population of Pakistan. Kovacs is an alliance of the World Health Organization, GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization) and CEPI (Coagulation for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations).

Like many other developing countries, Pakistan too has signed it, so Kovacs like other countries are obliged to provide this vaccine free of cost to Pakistan.

Can Kovacs give vaccine to Pakistan early?

In this regard, a statement was made in the local media quoting the Prime Minister’s advisor, Dr. Faisal Sultan, that Pakistan could soon get the vaccine via Kovacs in a few weeks.

However, a senior official of the health department of the Punjab province, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the BBC that before August or September this year, it is difficult for Pakistan to get the Corona vaccine via Kovacs.

“Kovacs will provide vaccines to each country according to its priority program. GAVI is already running vaccination programs against many diseases in Pakistan. It is possible that vaccines against the corona virus may also be included.”

Thus, this vaccine from Kovacs will be made available for 20 percent of the population of Pakistan. The question is also whether the vaccine from Kovacs will be sufficient for the needs of Pakistan.

Can private companies bring vaccine into the country soon?

Apart from purchasing at the government level, the other way to bring vaccine to Pakistan is private companies, which import and distribute medicines in Pakistan.

Asad Umar, who recently headed the ‘National Command and Operation Center’ for Kovid-19 in Pakistan, said that provincial governments and private companies in Pakistan are completely free to buy the Corona vaccine with DRAP approval.

However, according to the Punjab Health Department official, bringing the Corona vaccine to Pakistan soon will be very difficult for private companies as well.

He said that the main reason for this is, “At this time, All the vaccine companies have agreements with the governments and their ability to produce the vaccine is such that it will take them months to complete the agreements with the governments.”

Would the government want people to buy the vaccine?

According to a Punjab province health department official, when private companies bring a vaccine, they usually sell it in the market, after which it is available in medical stores, but consumers will have to buy that vaccine.

They say that in the current situation, no government would want that in their country, a person has to buy and get vaccinated. “Therefore, there is no possibility of vaccine availability over the counter in the near future.”

In this situation, the Central or Provincial Government may enter into an agreement to purchase the vaccine through these private companies.

Will Provincial Governments Buy Vaccines?

In Pakistan, the provincial governments have also been allowed to buy the vaccine on their own. However, in the present case, it is very unlikely.

The Punjab Health Department official told the BBC that before the recent announcement of the NCOC, the Punjab government depended only on the central government for the purchase and supply of the vaccine.

This is the reason why the Punjab government did not establish any contact with any company on its own. He said that, “In Punjab, the government will still depend on the central government to supply the vaccine.”

Remember that Punjab is the largest province in terms of population and the country’s largest corona vaccination program will be conducted in Punjab itself.

“Sindh wants to buy itself but …”

Sindh’s provincial health minister, Dr Azra Pechiho, told the BBC that his government’s intention is to buy the vaccine itself. He said that Pakistan is already far behind most other countries, which is a matter of concern.

“Many countries have also pre-booked the vaccine, due to which Pakistan has gone further down the list of buyers.”

She said that she is trying to get the vaccine as soon as possible, but even then it may take up to March.

The question is that the DRAP has approved the vaccination of only two companies. Of which the vaccine for cyanoform will be given only through the central government, so how and from whom will Sindh get this vaccine?

Doctor Azra Fazl Pechiho said that she is “in talks with a private company to import the vaccine for this and currently her target is to get a vaccine made by AstraZeneca”.

Corona Virus: Why has Pakistan not been able to reach a vaccine purchase agreement yet?

How ready is Punjab?

Mohammad Osman Younis, secretary of the primary and secondary health department of Punjab province, told the BBC that following the recent announcement of the NCOC, the provincial government is considering measures in this regard.

However, he said that most of the steps in this regard will be taken as per the guidelines and policy of the Center. And the program made by the Center for the vaccination of the people will also be implemented in Punjab. He says “For a program like this, it is necessary to work on a central strategy so that people across the country can be vaccinated equally”.

Why Pakistan has not been able to buy the vaccine so far?

“Pakistan’s expectations are from China”

According to Dr. Ata-Urrahman, Pakistan’s high hopes are related to the friendly country China. It is expected that after the approval of the Cyanoform vaccine, it will be made available to the Government of Pakistan through the National Institute of Health in Islamabad at the government level.

According to Dr. Ata-Urrahman, “Being a friendly country, Pakistan is one of the countries for China, where this vaccine will be provided on priority basis.”

He said that cyanoform is 79 percent effective and it is still under testing in Pakistan. He said that after the approval, in the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and other countries, this vaccine is being given to the people. And there are statistics for its success.

According to Dr. Ata-Urrahman, the purchase of the vaccine is the work of the government, so they cannot say how much number of vaccines Pakistan will buy from cyanoforms, and how soon the Chinese company will be able to prepare the vaccine for Pakistan.

“The hope is that Pakistan will get the cyanoform vaccine in March.”

Why Pakistan has not been able to buy the vaccine so far?

Why is the availability of AstraZeneca vaccine difficult?

Akhtar Abbas Khan, additional director of DRAP, a drug regulatory body in Pakistan, told the BBC that Cyanopharm and AstraZeneca had been approved for the emergency use of the vaccine on the condition that they would closely monitor the potential effects of the vaccine, which will be reviewed after every three months.

Akhtar Abbas Khan said that AstraZeneca had applied for the approval of the vaccine through a local company and submitted the data. Those have been approved after investigation.

Remember, AstraZeneca produces the vaccine not only in Britain but also in India. And the rate of corona patients in both countries is much higher than in most countries of the world.

Thus, the two countries that have been making the vaccine AstraZeneca have secured a large part of that vaccine.

How long will it take for the European and American vaccines to come to Pakistan?

The Punjab Health Department official told the BBC that apart from Chinese companies, it seems difficult for Pakistan to get vaccines from European or American companies early.

“It is like when you buy a new car, you have to wait six months or eight months for it. Because the car manufacturer has limited capacity.”

He said that it could take only this much time for Pakistan to get the vaccine from AstraZeneca and American companies.

“For example, AstraZeneca will first provide vaccines to a large portion of India’s population of more than one billion. After that it will think about other countries.”

How can I get a vaccine quickly from China?

Since Cyanoform is a Chinese state-run company, it can provide vaccines to Pakistan on a priority basis, in the outcome of a decision at the level of governments of both countries.

But it has to be seen that how much number of vaccines it has the ability to provide to Pakistan soon.

Apart from Cyanopharm, another Chinese company, Canciano Bio is also conducting the third phase of the trial in Pakistan. The figures of which are likely to be presented to the DRAP soon for approval.

According to officials, this company is also expected to get the vaccine on Pakistan on a priority basis.