Pakistan is likely to receive around 17 million of Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the WHO's Covax facility, reported The News. Additional delivery of 10 million doses further expected by June, the British High Commission in Pakistan said in a statement. 

Around 8 million people will be vaccinated with these doses, the statement said. Earlier, Asad Omar, the chief of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), has indicated Pakistan could receive 17 million doses of vaccines in the early half of the year. 

Without specifying any dates, Omar said, the country may start getting vaccines by the end of February. Soon after his statement, Covax announced 17.2 million of Astra-Zeneca COVID-19 vaccines for Pakistan.  

In the South Asian region, Pakistan remained the country to receive Covid-19 vaccines. Except for Pakistan, all countries in the region got early supplies of vaccines from India in January. 

Recently, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the country could have cooperated regionally on Covid-19 but regional geopolitical tensions came in the way of that cooperation. Significantly, Pakistan had not made any request to India for vaccines, and it remained the only country to do so in the region.