The first shipment of the Russian Sputnik-V has arrived in Pakistan becoming the first privately-imported vaccine available in the country. Pakistan is the 22nd country to approve the Sputnik V vaccine.

“Sputnik has received EUA (emergency use authorisation),” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said while talking about the vaccine.

As per details, Sputnik V is to be administered in two shots, three weeks apart, has a six-month shelf life and is stored at -18 Celsius.

While a price has not yet been announced, Dr Omer Chughtai of Chughtai Labs said the “government will hopefully decide and announce the price soon.”

“We are in process of getting our vaccination centers registered,” he added.

The first shipment of the Sputnik V vaccine arrived in Pakistan last night.

Govt will hopefully decide and announce the price soon.

We are in process of getting our vaccination centers registered.

— Dr Omar Chughtai (@OmarChughtai) March 18, 2021

Pakistan has reversed decision to allow uncapped price for COVID-19 vaccine imported by private firms, says health minister Faisal Sultan.

— Asif Shahzad (@asiffshahzad) March 18, 2021

COVID-19 vaccination for seniors aged 70 and above began on March 10. According to the National Command Operation Center (NCOC) registered senior citizens aged 70 and above can get vaccinated from any health centre. Meanwhile, NCOC head Asad Umar on Wednesday announced that over 41 thousand people were vaccinated the previous day marking the highest daily vaccination rate.

Pakistan launched its vaccination drive in early February with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by longtime ally China, giving shots to frontline health workers as a priority.