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Pakistan likely to get updated Pfizer COVID shots as new variant spreads

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11 months ago

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  • COVID-19 jabs would be used to vaccinate high-risk groups.
  • New formula effective against currently circulating variants.
  • “We believe Saudi authorities will require vaccination,” says official.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is likely to receive 500,000 doses of Pfizer’s new COVID-19 vaccine (2023-24 formula) in January 2024 amid a global surge in cases as the new JN.1 variant spreads around the world, The News reported on Monday.

The COVID-19 jabs would be used to vaccinate high-risk groups, including pilgrims before embarking on the Hajj pilgrimage, officials said on Sunday.

But before vaccinating people with the newly-developed vaccine in Pakistan, the authorities need to get a fresh Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA) from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) as the newly-developed vaccine by Pfizer has not been approved or licensed by the United States’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA), but has only been authorised for emergency use by them, they added.

“We are going to get 200,000 doses of Pfizer’s new COVID-19 vaccine (2023-24 formula) from the US in the next few days. This new formula is effective against the currently circulating variants including Omicron and its sub-variants. In addition, we would get 300,000 more doses of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine from COVAX, an international initiative to provide Covid vaccines to people around the world,” an official of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad told The News.

The number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 52% during the 28-day period from November 20 to December 17, 2023 as compared to the previous 28-day period, with over 850,000 new cases reported during that time, the World Health Organisation (WHO) reported last week after it declared JN.1 sub-variant of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 as Variant of Interest (VOI).

However, the officials in the NIH Islamabad and provincial health facilities in Lahore and Karachi said they had not yet detected JN.1 sub-variant in Pakistan as COVID-19 positivity was quite low and less than 1% but added that in order to prevent pilgrims from contracting the new COVID-19 variants, they needed the new vaccine.

“We believe that Saudi authorities will require vaccination against COVID-19 with new mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer or other companies authorised by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before allowing pilgrims to enter their territory for Haj,” the NIH official added.

He maintained that all the previous vaccines, including Pfizer or Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac, will either be consumed or expired by November 2023 and added that at the moment, Pakistan has no stock of any COVID-19 vaccine.

On the other hand, Pakistani authorities will have to acquire ‘Emergency Use Authorisation’ for Pfizer’s newly-developed Covid-19 vaccine from the Drap as Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 Vaccine (2023-2024 Formula) has not been approved or licensed by the FDA, another health official said.

According to Pfizer, its Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (2023-2024 Formula) has been authorised for emergency use by the FDA under an Emergency Use Authorisation to prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) for use in individuals aged between six months to 11 years of age.

“Drap accepts FDA’s EUA as such, so no problem in term of its use in Pakistan. Drap will just require a formal request for it along with the FDA certification,” the official said, adding that either the NIH or Federal Directorate of Immunisation (FDI) or in the case of Pfizer, their local representative or authorised supplier could submit a formal request for the Emergency Use Authorisation for the vaccine.

Regarding its use for children aged between six months to 11 years, the official claimed that a vaccine suitable for this age would work for adults as well. Meanwhile, ages below 12 years are considered sensitive as their immune system is still evolving, he added.

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Combating Terrorism: Twelve Terrorists Destroyed in Separate Operations by Security Forces

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Eleven terrorists and Kharijis were killed in two separate intelligence-based operations in Balochistan’s Miran Shah District and North Waziristan. One of the victims was Sana Alias Baru, a high-value target.

In the vicinity of Miran Shah in North Waziristan, security forces successfully fought the Khwarij, leading to the death of eight and injury of six.

The general region of Balgatar, Kech District, Balochistan was earlier the scene of an Intelligence-Based Operation that resulted in the deaths of four terrorists, one of them was a high-value target.

Authorities in Kech District were actively seeking Baru, who had a pivotal role in recruiting members of the so-called Majeed Brigade, particularly suicide bombers.

Among the terrorists’ possessions were weapons and ammo.

In order to eradicate any lingering terrorists in the vicinity, a sanitation operation is currently under progress.

With unwavering resolve, the Pakistani security forces will eradicate the terrorist threat from the nation.

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Constitutional Bench Gets to Work: Petitions Dismissed, Fines Slapped on Frivolous Petitioners

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6 hours ago

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As of today, pending matters are being heard by the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Bench, which was established under the 26th Amendment to the Constitution.

On its first day of operation, the six-judge Constitutional Bench presided over by Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan dismissed several frivolous petitions, including one challenging legislation enacted by the PDM government, and fined the petitioner twenty thousand rupees for bringing the case.

Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Musarrat Hilali, and Naeem Akhtar Afghan make up the Constitutional Bench, along with Justice Amin.

The bench rejected the appeal challenging the decision of the Supreme Court to appoint Qazi Faez Isa, a former chief justice of Pakistan, to the position of chief justice of the Balochistan high court.

In addition to upholding the Registrar Office’s objections, the Constitutional Bench rejected a petition asking for a change to the general election date on 8 February.

It has become an infructuous affair, the bench said, regarding the review of the Supreme Court’s decision on the review of judgment and order.

Justice Amin Uddin told the Attorney General that the Supreme Court has acknowledged parliament’s involvement in legislation in response to his claim that the verdict has commented on parliament’s position as legislative.

The bench found the petitioner’s claims to be baseless and fined them 20,000 rupees, dismissing their request to outlaw marriages between government employees and foreign nationals.

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Ahsan says all available resources should be used to eradicate smog at the air pollution meeting.

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1 day ago

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According to Ahsan Iqbal, the country’s minister of planning and development, a non-traditional approach is required to address the pollution problem, and every available resource would be used to eradicate this grave issue.

Children are disproportionately affected by pollution, the Planning Minister stated during a special meeting on smog and air pollution in Islamabad.

He claimed that cooperation between the federal government and the provinces is urgently needed to address the various problems that climate change has caused in Pakistan.

Smog is interfering with everyday activities, the Minister added, and it has grown to be a serious threat to our future.

Burning crop residue is the cause of smog, he claimed.

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