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Coronavirus pandemic

Pakistan approves Russian Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine’s emergency use

The country’s authorities also allowed to use the vaccines developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical corporation Sinopharm and the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca

© Dmitry Rogulin/TASS

NEW DELHI, January 24. /TASS/. Pakistan’s government decided to allow the emergency use of Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine in the country, the Dawn newspaper reported on Sunday citing the government’s sources.

"At the meeting held by the registration board of Pakistan’s Drug Regulatory Authority, another vaccine was also approved for emergency use," according to the newspaper. "After this decision, the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine was the third one to be approved for emergency use in the country," the source noted.

On Tuesday, Pakistan's Health Ministry authorized the emergency use of a coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical corporation Sinopharm. The country’s authorities also allowed to use the drug, manufactured by the British-Swedish company AstraZeneca and the Oxford University. On August 11, 2020, Russia was the first in the world to register a coronavirus vaccine named Sputnik V.

Since the start of the pandemic, Pakistan has reported about 529,000 coronavirus cases.

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