Pakistan will start its COVID-19 vaccination drive by maximum next week. First priority would be the front-line health workers.

Sources said the first batch of vaccine is likely to flown in by Saturday. China has vowed to give 500,000 doses of SinoPharm coronavirus vaccine made by the Chinese firm. Pakistan has so far approved two vaccines for emergency use, one made by China National Pharmaceutical Group (SinoPharm) and the other by AstraZeneca.

Russia's Sputnik V vaccine is also in line of getting the similar approval from the concerned authorities. The officials from the Health ministry said that the vaccine approvals will be reviewed quarterly with regard to safety, effectiveness and quality.

Health Minister Faisal Sultan has said Pakistan could get "in the range of tens of millions" of vaccine doses under an agreement with China's Cansino Biologics Inc. Pakistan also expects to get an additional 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China.

Pakistan’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy

NCOC has unveiled a comprehensive vaccination plan to in line with the best global health guidelines.

Vaccination process 1. Registration - Citizens including frontline healthcare workers will send CNIC number to 1166 through SMS or use NIMS website for registration.

1. Verification - After required verification, citizens will be directed to the nearest Adult Vaccine Centres (AVC).

2. Confirmation - When vaccine becomes available, confirmation message and date of appointment will be sent via text message.

3. Visit - After successful registration, citizens will visit the centre on the date of appointment along with original CNIC and received pin code (mandatory).

4. Vaccination - Citizens will be administered the vaccine
after verifying CNIC and pin code.

5. Monitoring - Citizen will stay at the centre for 30 minutes for the post inoculation monitoring.

Pakistan reported 1,563 new coronavirus infections and 74 deaths in the latest 24 hours, taking the total number of cases to more than 537,477, with 11,450 deaths.