Pakistan on Tuesday began final-phase testing of a Chinese-made vaccine against novel coronavirus, the first ever clinical trial of its kind in the South Asian nation.
Officials at the National Health Institute (NIH) stated that the COVID-19 medication has been supplied by China; developed by Chinese biotech CanSinoBio in partnership with the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology as part of a trial agreement.
NIH chief Major General Dr. Aamer Ikram said “We are expecting initial results in four to six weeks when 8,000 to 10,000 candidates would have received the vaccine.”
He emphasized the “safety and efficacy” of the COVID-19 vaccine, saying it has already been approved in China for the Chinese army and police and is being administered to them.
Recall that Pakistan has documented more than 306,000 infections, including more than 6,400 deaths, since the pandemic hit the country of about 220 million.
However, the number of cases has drastically and steadily declined in the country since mid-June when the daily rate of infections spiked at more than 6,000.
Report states that fewer than 600 new patients and only four deaths from the virus had been registered across Pakistan in the last 24 hours.
As regards the vaccine, Ikram said it would be available on the market, “once its efficacy proved and the results analyzed in the next four to five months.”
