Pakistan says vaccine shortage at some centers temporary, two million doses in inventory

A woman receives the second dose of coronavirus Sinopharm vaccine at a vaccination camp in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 20, 2021. (AFP)

• Health chief Dr. Faisal Sultan says vaccine supplies to improve as more doses imported later in June
• Media reports have emerged this week that Punjab and Sindh provinces have run out of vaccine jabs

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani health chief Dr. Faisal Sultan said on Wednesday two million coronavirus vaccine doses were currently present in the nation’s inventory, adding that reported shortages at some centers around the country were only temporary. 
Sultan told Arab News last Friday Pakistan had received 14.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine since it kicked off its vaccination campaign in February and planned to buy and receive over 90 million more jabs to vaccinate its adult population in the second half of 2021.
Pakistani media reported on Wednesday that the country was going through a coronavirus vaccine shortage ‘crisis,’ having exhausted its supplies of both Chinese and European vaccine doses in the Punjab and Sindh provinces. 
On Tuesday, Dr. Yasmin Rashid, the health minister of Pakistan’s largest and most densely populated Punjab province, denied media reports the provincial government was running short of COVID-19 vaccines and had taken a decision to halt its immunization campaign for two days.
“There are more than 2,000 vaccination centers in the country and the number of visitors varies, so there may be a shortage of vaccines in some centers,” health chief Dr. Faisal Sultan said, adding that busy centers in major urban cities faced more demand. 
Sultan said there were more than two million vaccine doses currently available in the country: “So this [vaccine supply] process will continue, and it will improve after June as we get more vaccines.”
Pakistan’s The News on Wednesday quoted an official of the National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination as saying: “At the moment, we are facing a shortage of different Chinese and European vaccines that are being used to inoculate our population. Sinopharm and SinoVac vaccines are only being administered to those requiring the second dose while AstraZeneca’s stocks are also near exhaustion.”
The News reported that the vaccination process had been “halted completely” at the Expo Center Lahore on Tuesday due to the suspension of vaccine supplies from the federal government, while “many youngsters were refused vaccination at Expo Center Karachi and some other vaccination centers due to shortage of Sinopharm, Sinovac and Cansino vaccines while AstraZeneca was only being offered to people of 40 years of age and above in Karachi.”
The health ministry official was quoted as saying the federal government had dispatched 100,000 doses of different vaccines to Sindh, including 50,000 doses of Sinopharm, 40,000 doses of Sinovac and 10,000 doses of AstraZeneca, and urged provincial authorities to divert vaccines from under-utilized COVID-19 vaccination centers to mega centers.
“Similarly, the official said, they have dispatched 50,000 doses of various vaccines including 30,000 doses of Sinopharm, and 10,000 doses each of Cansino and AstraZeneca to Punjab to continue the vaccination process at its mega vaccination center and also advised the provincial authorities to divert the unutilized vaccine stocks to its mega center in Lahore,” The News said.
According to data shared with Arab News by Sultan, as of June 9, the country had received 14.5 million vaccine doses, of which 11.06 million had been purchased from pharmaceutical companies, while 2.7 million were donated by China and a consignment of 1.34 million were contributed by Covax, the global dose-sharing platform for poor nations.
Last year in November, Pakistan’s government allocated $150 million to buy COVID-19 vaccines from international manufacturers. The amount has been used to buy 11.06 million doses as well as to pay transportation costs and purchase the equipment needed to administer vaccines across the country, according to Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, director general health in Islamabad.
As of June 8, 9.9 million doses of the 14.5 million total doses received had been administered, according to data provided by the health chief. As per a government portal, 3.6 percent of Pakistan’s 70 million adult population has been fully inoculated so far. 
Of the doses administered, the majority of the people — 3,513,088 — have received a Sinovac jab, while 2,548,788 people have been given the Sinopharm vaccine, Sultan said.
There are a total 1,876 vaccination centers in the country, which the government aims to increase to 4,000 in the near future.
Pakistan has already placed orders for an additional 90 million doses of the vaccine so far, the health chief said last week, adding that the country expected to receive 34 million doses of the China-made Sinovac vaccine this year, of which four million would arrive in June, and five million doses every month till December. Of the 26 million doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine ordered, three million would arrive in June and 23 million doses between July and December.
As for the 18 million doses of the China-made CanSino vaccine, three million doses of the drug would be received every month from July to December. Of the 12 million doses of the US-made Pfizer vaccine secured, one million would arrive in July and 11 million between July to December.
Separately, Pakistan will receive another batch of 1.23 million doses of the UK-made AstraZeneca this month, donated through the Covax platform.