COVAX delivers first tranche of 6 million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, 11 August 2021 – Today the first tranche of 6.1 million doses of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine (BBIBP-CorV) procured through COVAX, the global COVID-19 vaccine equity scheme, reached Pakistan.

Early this morning 976,782 doses of the vaccine landed in Islamabad; the remaining 5.1 million doses will arrive within the next four days. All will support the Government’s national vaccination drive, which recently hit the milestone of one million doses of vaccine administered in a day.

Nearly 8 million people have received two doses of COVID-19 vaccine, and 30 million have received one dose since the start of the vaccination campaign, which began one year after the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Pakistan. The Government has used doses of COVID-19 vaccines procured through COVAX and through bilateral purchases.

This is the first Sinopharm vaccine consignment to arrive in Pakistan through COVAX, bringing the total number of doses delivered by the Global Facility to the Government to more than 14 million over the past three months. This includes the 6.1 million doses Sinopharm, 5.5 million doses of Moderna donated by the United States under COVAX’ dose-sharing mechanism, 100,160 doses of Pfizer and 2.4 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

“WHO applauds the Government of Pakistan for its massive countrywide efforts to get people vaccinated. With this increased large supply, through COVAX Facility, we can boost the national COVID-19 response and keep everyone safe from the recent emergence of more transmissible variants. These vaccines supplied through the COVAX Facility will help in realizing our shared vision of vaccine equity. Accelerating vaccine equity is not only critical to saving lives but also to driving a faster and fairer recovery from the pandemic with benefits for all, said Dr Palitha Mahipala, WHO Representative in Pakistan. WHO has been and will continue working hard alongside the Government of Pakistan to attain the capacity and infrastructure needed to safely delivery the vaccines across the country.”

So far one million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Pakistan and at least 24,004 people have succumbed to the disease.

“UNICEF appreciates the concerted efforts by COVAX partners to accelerate the delivery of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan. These latest shipments of 6.1 million doses of vaccines will contribute to the NCOC’s plan to vaccinate at least 70 million people by the end of this year, having now reached the milestone of vaccinating more than one million people per day, said Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan. “UNICEF will continue to support the Government in ensuring an efficient roll-out of the campaign so that no one is left behind. This includes closing the gender gap as currently barely more than one-third of people vaccinated are women. COVID-19 vaccines are safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, and they do not disrupt fertility. Women are as much exposed to the virus as men, they need to be vaccinated to prevent COVID-19 and stay healthy.”

Strictly complying with COVID-19 public health and social measures remains as critical as ever to stop the spread of virus. These include regularly washing hands with soap for at least 20 seconds or use a sanitizer; wear a mask; remain at least six feet away from other people; avoid crowded places; and stay home when having COVID-19 symptoms.

“The COVAX Facility and Gavi are proud to support this delivery of COVID vaccines and commend the Government of Pakistan for their continuing efforts to ensure that vulnerable populations in Pakistan are protected from COVID-19,” said Alexa Reynolds, Gavi Senior Country Manager for Pakistan.

The goal of COVAX is to help address the acute phase of the global pandemic by the end of 2021 by providing rapid, fair and equitable access to safe and effective vaccines for all participating countries and territories regardless of income level.

The COVAX Facility, co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and WHO, together with UNICEF, aims to provide access to quality-assured COVID-19 vaccines, enabling the protection of frontline health care and social workers, as well as other high-risk and vulnerable groups.

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Notes to editors:

So far donors to the COVAX Advance Market Commitment include Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, European Union, Australia, Bhutan, Canada, Colombia, Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Monaco, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Anonymous Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, KS Relief/Gamers Without Borders, Mastercard, Medline International, Nikkei Inc., Reed Hastings and Patty Quillin, Shell, Thistledown Foundation, TikTok, Transferwise, Soccer Aid.

The list of donor pledges to COVAX AMC is available here.

About COVAX

COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO – working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide to both higher-income and lower-income countries.

CEPI

CEPI is leading on the COVAX vaccine research and development portfolio, investing in R&D across a variety of promising candidates, with the goal to support development of three safe and effective vaccines which can be made available to countries participating in the COVAX Facility. As part of this work, CEPI has secured first right of refusal to potentially over one billion doses for the COVAX Facility to a number of candidates, and made strategic investments in vaccine manufacturing, which includes reserving capacity to manufacture doses of COVAX vaccines at a network of facilities, and securing glass vials to hold 2 billion doses of vaccine. CEPI is also investing in the ‘next generation’ of vaccine candidates, which will give the world additional options to control COVID-19 in the future.

Gavi

GAVI leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX: designing and managing the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its traditional Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery. As part of this role, Gavi hosts the Office of the COVAX Facility to coordinate the operation and governance of the mechanism as a whole, holds financial and legal relationships with 193 Facility participants, and manages the COVAX Facility deals portfolio: negotiating advance purchase agreements with manufacturers of promising vaccine candidates to secure doses on behalf of all COVAX Facility participants. Gavi also coordinates design, operationalisation and fundraising for the Gavi COVAX AMC, the mechanism that provides access to donor-funded doses of vaccine to 92 lower-income economies. As part of this work, Gavi provides funding and oversight for UNICEF procurement and delivery of vaccines to all AMC participants – operationalising the advance purchase agreements between Gavi and manufacturers – as well as support for partners’ and governments work on readiness and delivery. This includes tailored support to governments, UNICEF, WHO and other partners for cold chain equipment, technical assistance, syringes, vehicles, and other aspects of the vastly complex logistical operation for delivery. Gavi also co-designed, raises funds for and supports the operationalisation of the AMC’s no-fault compensation mechanism as well as the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer.

WHO

WHO has multiple roles within COVAX: It provides normative guidance on vaccine policy, regulation, safety, R&D, allocation, and country readiness and delivery. Its Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization develops evidence-based immunization policy recommendations. Its Emergency Use Listing (EUL)/prequalification programmes ensure harmonized review and authorization across member states. It provides global coordination and member state support on vaccine safety monitoring. It developed the target product profiles for COVID-19 vaccines and provides R&D technical coordination. WHO leads, along with UNICEF, the support to countries as they prepare to receive and administer vaccines. The Country Readiness and Delivery (CRD) workstream includes Gavi and numerous other partners working at the global, regional, and country-level to provide tools, guidance, monitoring, and on the ground technical assistance for the planning and roll-out of the vaccines. Along with COVAX partners, WHO is also developing a no-fault compensation scheme as part of the time-limited indemnification and liability commitments.

UNICEF

UNICEF is leveraging its experience as the largest single vaccine buyer in the world and working with manufacturers and partners on the procurement of COVID-19 vaccine doses, as well as freight, logistics and storage. UNICEF already procures more than 2 billion doses of vaccines annually for routine immunization and outbreak response on behalf of nearly 100 countries. In collaboration with the PAHO Revolving Fund, UNICEF is leading efforts to procure and supply doses of COVID-19 vaccines for COVAX. In addition, UNICEF, Gavi and WHO are working with governments around the clock to ensure that countries are ready to receive the vaccines, with appropriate cold chain equipment in place and health workers trained to dispense them. UNICEF is also playing a lead role in efforts to foster trust in vaccines, delivering vaccine confidence communications and tracking and addressing misinformation around the world.