AstraZeneca okayed for those below 40 to facilitate help expatriates especially those heading to Saudi Arabia
Pakistan has lifted the restriction of the use of the COVID-19 AstraZeneca vaccine for people below 40 years old to facilitate people traveling for work or education, particularly Saudi Arabia, the country’s health chief said.
“From today, we have lifted the restriction for use of AstraZeneca for below 40 years,” Dr Faisal Sultan said. Under the new guidelines, people over the age of 18 years can now be administered AstraZeneca.
Pakistan received 1.2 million doses of AstraZeneca under the COVAX facility.
Pakistan is mostly relying on Chinese vaccines — Sinopharm, CanSinoBio and Sinovac — in its vaccination drive. Saudi Arabia has only approved four COVID-19 vaccines for arrivals, namely AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson – which became a dilemma for Pakistani travelers.
Saudi authorities have not approved the Chinese shots despite the approval of the Chinese Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines by WHO.
Pakistan’s government is utilizing its diplomatic channels to urge Saudi Arabia would to Chinese vaccines in the future.
AstraZeneca guidelines in Pakistan
- AstraZeneca can be administered to people over 18 years subject to submission of a consent form.
- People who have already received the first shot of AstraZeneca abroad and have documentary proof are eligible for the second dose in Pakistan.
- People will have to show their travel documents such as visa and job application to get the AstraZeneca shot.
- Under the present arrangement, the first dose recipients can receive the second shot after 12 weeks.