China promises to provide 0.5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine by Jan 31: FM Qureshi
He said the Chinese FM offered Pakistan to send an airplane and airlift the vaccine
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Thursday said that China has promised to provide 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan by January 31.
Talking to media in Islamabad on Thursday, he said the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi counterpart offered Islamabad to send an airplane and airlift the vaccines.
Qureshi said that he told his Chinese counterpart that Pakistan requires 1.1 million doses of the vaccine in view of its large population.
The foreign minister said that the Chinese side also promised to make available the required quantity of the medicine by the end of next month.
The foreign minister went on to say that China has also agreed to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccine in Pakistan, adding that the first cache of the vaccine is a grant from China to be provided to Pakistan free of cost as a goodwill gesture.
Always great to speak to my friend, His Excellency FM Wang Yi. With encouraging results of Chinese vaccine and our historic relationship, Pakistan has approved emergency use authorisation of SinoPharm. Indeed greatly appreciates the 500,000 doses of the vaccine gifted by.
— Shah Mahmood Qureshi (@SMQureshiPTI) January 21, 2021
Later, In hi tweet, the FM said, “Always great to speak to my friend, His Excellency FM Wang Yi. With encouraging results of Chinese vaccine and our historic relationship, Pakistan has approved emergency use authorisation of SinoPharm. Indeed Pakistan greatly appreciates the 500,000 doses of the vaccine gifted by China.”
