Pakistanis rush to vaccination sites to buy Sputnik V as commercial sales begin
In the first round of commercial sales of Sputnik V vaccines in Pakistan, thousands of people rushedto covid-19 vaccination sites.Pictures of queues outside the hospital late into the night were shared on social media.The commercial sales of Sputnik V began over the weekend, with vaccination sites in the southerncity of Karachi saying they had already sold out.Pakistan is currently offering free vaccines to frontline healthcare workers and people over the ageof 50 Last month, the country allowed commercial imports by the private sector for the generalpublic.Those still not eligible for the government’s free vaccination wait in long queues at vaccination sitesin Pakistan to get vaccinated despite the USD 80 (12,000 Pakistani rupees) cost for a pack of twodoses as the country allows private sales of the Covid-19 vaccines.Despite the cost, a number of centres offering the shot reported long queues, with some in Karachiwaiting in line for close to three hours. Most in the queue were young Pakistanis still not eligible forthe government’s free vaccination.Initially, Pakistan agreed to exempt imported vaccines from price caps, but later rescinded theexemption and said it would set maximum prices.One pharmaceutical company, which had already imported 50,000 doses of Sputnik V, took thegovernment to court, where it won an interim order allowing it to sell it until pricing is decided.The number of patients now in critical care has reached 3,568, the highest since the pandemicstarted, a cabinet minister, Asad Umar, said on Twitter.
Tags: Pakistan, coronavirus, Sputnik V
