In a bid to facilitate national vaccination drive, Pakistan has successfully manufactured a COVID vaccine locally at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad.

Well informed sources said that overall 124,000 doses of single-dose CanSino vaccine were manufactured at the NIH and would be available for use from the next week.

The vaccine was prepared by Pakistani experts under the supervision of a Chinese team, said the sources; adding that the second batch of the vaccine will be prepared solely by the Pakistani experts.

The Chinese team, according to sources, assisted them during the manufacturing process with the raw material provided by the Chinese firm CanSino.

The National Control Lab for Biologicals of the DRAP will examine the vaccine and give a final approval regarding its use. The doses will be supplied nationwide soon after receiving DRAP’s approval.

The the local production of the CanSino vaccine will gradually make Pakistan largely self-sufficient in meeting its COVID-19 vaccine needs.