Pakistan’s government made it clear that the government will not compromise with the efficiency of vaccines and said they would prefer “cost-effective with best results-oriented” vaccines, reported Dawn.

“Our target is to procure the vaccine in the first quarter of the current year, and we are confident of doing so. But it is quite difficult to say on which date we will acquire the vaccine,” Dr. Faisel Sultan, the special assistant to the prime minister on health, was quoted as saying by Dawn.

He also denied the allegation of the delayed procurement, saying it was just a matter of days before the government would place orders. Half of the country’s population is below eighteen, he said, so they will not be vaccinated.

“As 100 percent population cannot be vaccinated in any country, we need to target 70 percent of the vaccinable population, which is 70 million,” he said.

The government is in close contact with a few international manufacturers, he disclosed.  Quoting a source from the Pakistan health ministry, the report said the government is in no haste to get the vaccines with the compromised efficiency level of vaccines. The aim is to get cost-effective vaccines, the source revealed.

The trial of the Chinese vaccine, Cansino, is nearly completed, and based on the results, the government would take a decision on it, said the special assistant. The country aims to achieve herd immunity by November this year, he claimed.

The country is also expected to receive 50 million doses (20 percent of the total population) of free vaccines from the international alliance Covax.