DRAP approves Russia's Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use

Dunya News

DRAP told that the first batch of the vaccine would reach Pakistan by the end of January.

ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approved the Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine Gam-COVID-Vac, also known as Sputnik V, for emergency use.

According to details, the registration board of the DRAP in its 299th meeting on Friday, had granted ‘emergency use authorization’ (EUA) to the Russian vaccine.

The concerned authorities have told that the first batch of the vaccine would reach Pakistan by the end of January.

Earlier, DRAP had approved Oxford–AstraZeneca and China’s Sinopharm vaccines for emergency use in Pakistan.

On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 48 deaths in the last 24 hours by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 532,412. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 11,295.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) 1,594 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

Till now 240,570 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 153,410 in Punjab 65,287 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 40,713 in Islamabad, 18,736 in Balochistan, 8,795 in Azad Kashmir and 4,901 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

Furthermore 4,561 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab 3,888 in Sindh, 1,832 in KP, 465 in Islamabad, 254 in Azad Kashmir, 193 in Balochistan, and 102 in GB.

Pakistan has so far conducted 7,642,665 coronavirus tests and 40,285 in the last 24 hours. 486,489 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,070 patients are in critical condition.