Coronavirus in Pakistan: Total Fatalities near 11,000

The national death tally of Pakistan due to coronavirus hit up to 11,000 after the country reported more than 40 deaths in a single day.

According to the COVID-19 national dashboard, 43 deaths added in the national tally of Pakistan taking figures to 10,951 on Sunday.

After 2,521 more infections in the single day, the total number of confirmed cases has risen to 519,291.

With 1,540 more recoveries, till now 473,639 have been recovered from the dread virus, whereas the active cases toll stands at 34,701.

Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) approved Saturday the use of the AstraZeneca’s COVID vaccine in Pakistan in case of emergency.

This is the first coronavirus vaccine to be approved in Pakistan. Dr Faisal Sultan, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister for Health, told international news agency Reuters that DRAP has allowed the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine in emergencies.

He said that Pakistan has already booked more than one million doses of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine, however, approval for this vaccine from DRAP is still pending.

Dr Faisal Sultan said that they are currently in the process of procuring vaccines from the West and other countries through both bilateral procurement agreements and the COVAX Facility.

Pakistan is in talks with several COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers, and Dr Sultan said that Pakistan could receive millions of doses of several vaccines under an agreement with China’s CanSinoBIO.

Dr. Faisal Sultan said, “The effectiveness of vaccines is an important factor. We are witnessing a number of developments regarding the effectiveness of various vaccines.”

“Preliminary results of the CanSino vaccine are expected by mid-February, while Pakistan is also considering Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine,” he said.