China approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm on Thursday, its first approved shot for general public use. Pakistan had earlier this month approved $150 million in funding to buy COVID-19 vaccines, initially to cover the most vulnerable 5% of the population. "If the private sector wants to import any other internationally-approved vaccine, it can do so," Hussain said on Thursday. It also reported 2,475 new infections, taking the total to 479,715. Pakistan is also running phase III clinical trials for CanSino Biologics' COVID-19 vaccine candidate, Ad5-nCoV, led by the government-run National Institute of Health.

Source: bd News24 December 31, 2020 05:15 UTC