The Pakistani government has relaxed the rules for buying emergency Covid-19 vaccine, officials said on Wednesday.
The decision to relax the rules of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to buy the drug was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday, they said.
According to the decision, there will be no need to meet the tender requirements for the purchase of the vaccine, which will be purchased from any of the six companies registered with the National Department of Health Services (NHS).
“The organisation’s Cabinet, in order to save lives in a timely and urgent manner, approved the purchase of the Covid-19 vaccine by the Department of Health,” a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said.
The government last month allocated $ 150 million to buy a coronavirus vaccine. It was also decided in December that front-line health workers and people over the age of 65 would be vaccinated in the first phase.
Meanwhile, with an additional 52 deaths from the virus in the last 24 hours, the number of Covid-19 deaths has reached 10,461 in the country, with a total of 492,594 cases reported after 2,118 new cases in one last day, according to in health service.