Pakistan received on Saturday its first batch of 1.2 million doses of Oxford University’s AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine through the COVAX facility.

According to a statement issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), an additional batch of 1.2 million doses is scheduled to arrive in a few days. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Imran Khan (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan received the consignment at the National Emergency Operations Centre headquarters.

The first batch of the vaccine includes 1,248,400 doses of the vaccine, Geo News reported. The NCOC statement further said that from June onwards, more vaccine shipments will be approved. The purpose of the COVAX facility is to provide enough vaccines to vaccinate 20 percent of the population in Pakistan, NCOC said.

Meanwhile, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar announced that the first batch of homemade coronavirus vaccine will be available by the end of May. "The first batch of bulk CanSino vaccine is being processed at the National Institute of Health at a plant set up for this purpose last month. Specially trained team is working on it," Umar said.

So far, Pakistan has vaccinated more than 3,320,304 people against the novel coronavirus. The country aims to inoculate 70 million of its citizens by the end of 2021.