ISLAMABAD: The Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services, Dr Faisal Sultan, on Thursday said the Chinese made Covid-19 vaccine, Sinopharm, was not recommended for the people above 60 years of age.

Talking to reporters here after inaugurating three initiatives including the National Health Laboratory (NHL), the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) Secretariat, and the Transformation and Excellence Center for Health (TECH) aimed at strengthening the country’s public health system, he said that based on the findings of expert committee’s preliminary analysis of Sinopharm data, the government has recommended the vaccine be licensed for people aged 18-60, at this stage. “At this stage, the committee has not recommended the vaccine for people older than 60,” he added.

Dr Sultan said this was not an “unusual” scenario.

“When new medicines come, such things happen and the basis is whether that [age group of the] population or people with certain conditions were included in the research for it. When we get more data, perhaps it will be used for people above 60 as well.”

He said the government was working on health sector reforms agenda to make positive changes in the service delivery system to serve the masses, adding, the NHL would be helpful in strengthening the diseases diagnostic and response system in the country.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021