Imran Khan tests COVID positive days after taking Chinese Sinopharm vaccine jab; PM Modi wishes speedy recovery

 Imran Khan tests COVID positive days after taking Chinese Sinopharm vaccine jab; PM Modi wishes speedy recovery

      

        Islamabad: Two days after getting inoculated with China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, said his aide Faisal Sultan in a Tweet on Saturday afternoon. His wife and First Lady Bushra Bibi has also tested positive for coronavirus.

        Sultan, who is Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, said that Khan has isolated himself at his home and getting treated for the infection.

        Prime Minister Narendra Modi has wished Khan a "speedy recovery". "Best wishes to Prime Minister Imran Khan for a speedy recovery from COVID-19," PM Modi tweeted.

        Meanwhile, Khan, 68, had received the first dose of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine on March 18. China has donated nearly 50,000 doses of Sinopharm to Pakistan, allowing the Imran Khan government to launch the vaccination drive in the country from March 10.

        According to Al Jazeera, vaccination uptake has been slow in Pakistan, where authorities have faced a significant amount of vaccine hesitancy among the general public and healthcare workers.

        Pakistan is expecting to get GAVI's first batch of 2.8 million doses of AstraZeneca sometime later this month, officials said.

        Besides Sinopharm and AstraZeneca, Pakistan has approved Russia's Sputnik and China's CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSinoBIO) vaccines for emergency use.