BEIJING: Three planes of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) carrying a consignment of one million doses of COVID-19 vaccine left here on Sunday for Pakistan as the country sees sharp increase in new coronavirus cases.

Another consignment of two million doses of Covid-19 vaccine will also be transported from China by the national flag carrier on April 29, Qadir Bux Sangi, PIA Country Manager for China told APP.

Giving details, he said two special planes and a PIA regular flight was used to airlift the corona vaccine doses from China.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has already begun vaccinating elderly people aged above 60-year-old and health professionals. The vaccination of people in the age group 50-59 has also been started from April 21.

The National Command and Operation Centre started registering citizens above 50 years of age for COVID-19 vaccination from March 30.

Pakistan began a vaccination drive last month with over a million doses of Sinopharm vaccines donated by China.

Islamabad received first COVID-19 vaccine consignment after a military aircraft airlifted it from Beijing in February 1, this year.

According to a senior Chinese official, the vaccine cooperation between Pakistan and China reflects the sincere mutual assistance between the two as all-weather strategic cooperative partners.