Tag: Sputnik-V

  • High hopes for Pakistan with aim to start local manufacturing of Sputnik V vaccine

    High hopes for Pakistan with aim to start local manufacturing of Sputnik V vaccine

    Pakistan is all set to start the local manufacturing the Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V in collaboration with Russia in the coming months.

    Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, during a joint press conference with his Russian counterpart on Wednesday, said Pakistan was looking forward to Russian collaboration for the local production of the Sputnik V vaccine.

    The Russian FM said his government had provided 50,000 doses to Pakistan and intended to provide more than 150,000 doses in the coming weeks.

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had arrived on Tuesday for a two-day visit in Islamabad, where he was received by Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

    FM Lavrov also expressed satisfaction over an increase in bilateral trade that reached $790 million over the last year.

    Earlier, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had approved the emergency use of the Russian vaccine.

    Two doses of it are currently being administered across private facilities in major cities for around Rs13,000.

    It has an efficacy rate of over 91%.

  • Sputnik vaccine reportedly available in Karachi

    Sputnik vaccine reportedly available in Karachi

    Sputnik vaccine is now available in Karachi for people who want to go for private vaccinations. As per details, the vaccine is available at Karachi’s Southcity Hospital for Rs 17,268 for two shots.

    Journalist Omar Quraishi shared the news on social media, saying: “Rs 17,268 for two doses of the Sputnik vaccine being charged by Karachi’s Southcity Hospital. Rs 12,268 is the price of the doses plus Rs 5,000 ‘administration charge’ by the hospital.”

    Later, the journalist said that he called the hospital to get some information, finding out that the whole process is a “complete mess”.

    People who booked their appointments have to call for the appointment again when the system starts working.

    Giving an update, Quraishi said: “Whoever managed to book an appointment for a Sputnik vaccine dose at South City Hospital in Karachi will have to re-book and go through the entire process all over again – when the system is reopened and when the hospital actually has vaccines.”

    OMI hospital is also reportedly administering vaccinations after registration.

    Meanwhile, the government has started the vaccination drive for citizens 50 and above. The government has also allowed walk-in vaccination for seniors aged 65 and above at different health centres.

    Pakistan is currently battling with its third wave of COVID-19. According to the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), Pakistan has reported 5,234 cases and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours.

  • Gill dismisses report claiming he is ‘earning billions by importing COVID-19 vaccine’

    Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s aide on political communication, Dr Shahbaz Gill, has rubbished reports claiming that he is earning hefty profits by importing vaccine for COVID-19.

    “Some people are making false claims that I have imported coronavirus vaccine. This news is fake. I have nothing to do with it,” he tweeted, urging people to stop spreading it.

    The government has now allowed Gill’s company to import Russian vaccine with a profit of Rs7,000 on each dose, the report had alleged.

    It went on to claim that Gill’s company had ordered 200,000 Sputnik-V vaccines in the first consignment, keeping a net profit of Rs1.40 billion — with Rs8,500 for every Rs1,550 dose — in one consignment and that too with the permission of the government.

    In another tweet, Gill said the fake WhatsApp forward regarding him cracked him up.

    The news and its dismissal comes days after the government capped the maximum retail price of Russian and Chinese coronavirus vaccine injections imported by the private sector.

    The government has fixed the maximum sale price of Sputnik-V vaccine at Rs8,449 for two doses and China’s Convidecia at Rs4,225 per injection, showed the summary of the National Health Services and Regulations Ministry.

  • ‘Increase the price or it’s going somewhere else’ threatens vaccine importer

    ‘Increase the price or it’s going somewhere else’ threatens vaccine importer

    Rs 8,449 not enough for the vaccine, says the importer of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and is threatening to “re-export” the 50,000 doses it brought to Pakistan. Officials say that the importer is saying that they can send the vaccine to ‘another country’ if the importer’s desired price is not set by the government.

    “The drug pricing committee of DRAP (Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan had recommended Rs8,449 for two doses of the vaccine, which is not acceptable to the importer,” an anonymous official of the federal government told news network, Geo News .

    RELATED: Fake COVID-19 reports, vaccines being sold on darkweb

    “The government is already under harsh criticism for the price recommended by DRAP’s pricing committee at Rs8,449. It was calculated on the basis of a landing cost of $30 but people are comparing it with the cost of the Russian vaccine in India and criticising the government for fixing higher price as compared to the neighbouring country,” the official stated.

    A representative of AGP Limited, the importer of the vaccine, said that they had the “option of re-exporting” the vaccine shipment or selling it to another country where they can get a much higher price.

    RELATED: ‘Govt does not plan to buy vaccines anytime soon’

    “The government’s price of Rs8,449 is not affordable for us because in addition to landing cost, there is distributor margin, storage and transportation costs, and hospitals and institutions will also take their service charges,” an official of the company clarified, also adding that if the didn’t send the vaccine back, there were ‘other options’ available too.

    “We are going to wait for a couple of days to resolve this issue but it is already over a week now and the shipment is [stored needlessly] at the cold storage. It could have been used by now to vaccinate at least 25,000 people who could afford to get it, as for millions, government’s vaccine is not available,” the official said to Geo News.

    Government officials had earlier said that AGP wants a retail price between Rs. 12,500-13,000 for two doses of their vaccine based on their expenses for procuring and delivering the vaccine but DRAP is unwilling to review its decision, since they say the recommended price of Rs. 8449 is fair.

  • Russia shows interest in registering its COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

    Russia shows interest in registering its COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan

    Russia has expressed interest in getting their COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik-V’ registered in Pakistan, claiming that it is the first-ever anti-corona vaccine. Sputnik-V was developed last year in August and will be available for public use in the coming few months.

    As per reports, Russia wrote a letter to Pakistan asking for details of the process of vaccine registration as well as the demand in the country for the batch of dozes.

    In the letter addressed to Special Assistant to Prime Minister Dr Faisal Sultan, the Russian Direct Investment Fund’s (RDIF) Head, Kirill Dmitriev has said that the Sputnik-V had an emergency use certificate and it was 91.4% effective.

    The vaccine made by Russia would be available for the public in February 2021.

    The letter has also claimed that the vaccine would be cheaper compared to other vaccines. Its single doze would cost less than $10 (Rs 1605) and it can be stored at -2 to 8 degree centigrade temperature.

    Russia’s vaccine was registered in August 2020 and the country offered to sell it to Pakistan in November. Meanwhile, the country has initiated the limited use of their vaccine from last November.

    Pakistan is currently experiencing the second wave of the virus. In the last 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) reported 59 deaths and 1,903 new cases in Pakistan.

    As per the data shared by the NCOC, the confirmed cases reported are 2,118 whereas 4,033 people recovered from the contagion during the last 24 hours.