Pakistan to purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinopharm

Pakistan will purchase 1.2 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China's Sinopharm, a minister said on Thursday.

"The Cabinet Committee has decided to initially purchase 1.2 million doses of the vaccine from the Chinese company Sinopharm, which will be provided free of cost to frontline workers in the first quarter of 2021," Pakistani Minister for Science and Technology said on Twitter.

China approved a COVID-19 vaccine developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm on Thursday, its first approved shot for general public use.