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ISLAMABAD: The first private shipment of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19 arrived in Pakistan on Wednesday night, Pakistani media reported, around a month after the government said it would allow private companies to import coronavirus vaccines.
Despite concerns over fairness and higher prices, Islamabad last month decided to allow the commercial import and sale of vaccines, in contrast to most countries that are importing and administering vaccines through government channels.
“I congratulate the AGP Limited [Pakistani pharmaceutical company] for receiving the first batch of Sputnik-V vaccines comprising 50,000 doses,” Russian trade representative in Karachi, Ruslan Aliev, told Pakistani newspaper The News. “Now onwards, the shipments of COVID-19 vaccine would be delivered to Pakistan at regular intervals to help the country fight against the pandemic.”
“This vaccine will be administered through hospitals and institutions that are authorized by the government as COVID-19 vaccination centers,” an official at AGP told The News, adding that during the next few days, the vaccine would be supplied to hospitals and institutions approved by the government. It was not clear if AGP would sell or donate the doses, what the price would be and if it would be set by the government.
Pakistan has so far received a million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine as donation, which are being administered through a government-run vaccination campaign. 
Pakistani pharmaceutical company AGP Limited (AGP) announced in February the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had authorized it to import and introduce Russia’s Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine to Pakistan.
According to peer-reviewed results from its late-stage clinical trial published in The Lancent international medical journal, the Sputnik V vaccine is 91.6% effective in preventing people from developing COVID-19.
DRAP “on February 1 has granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’ combined vector vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus (‘Sputnik V’ or the ‘vaccine’) to the company,” a AGP notification on the Pakistan Stock Exchange website, dated February 2, said.
“The company has also been authorized to import and introduce the vaccine in Pakistan and is now making efforts to ensure availability of sufficient supplies on an emergency basis in order to play a key role in supporting the government’s objective of vaccinating the masses.”
Russia approved the vaccine last August, before the large-scale trial had begun, saying it was the first country to do so for a COVID-19 shot. It named it Sputnik V, in homage to the world’s first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union.
Small numbers of frontline health workers began receiving it soon after and a large-scale roll out started in December, though access was limited to those in specific professions, such as teachers, medical workers and journalists.
In January, the vaccine was offered to all Russians.