KARACHI: Pakistan will allow the private sector to import vaccines for protection against the novel coronavirus, a senior health official confirmed on Sunday. “In addition to procurement by the government, if private companies get approval, through the normal process, they will be allowed to do so,” Dr. Faisal Sultan, special assistant to the prime minister on health, told Anadolu Agency. This comes days after officials of the Health Ministry, and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan refuted media reports that private sector could purchase vaccines for those individuals that can afford to pay for them. The government recently increased an initial sum of $150 to $250 it earmarked for purchasing the doses. “We will also allow private companies to import, and cater to the rich, who do not want to wait.”Pakistan will launch the vaccination drive in the second quarter of 2021, Nausheen Hamid, the parliamentary secretary at the Health Ministry, had said earlier this month.

Source: Pakistan Today December 27, 2020 15:22 UTC