ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday approved the emergency use of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for people beyond 60 years of age, a statement by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) said. It is the second phase of the vaccination process in Pakistan, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan permitted all registered healthcare workers with the national institute of medical sciences who are above 60 years old to get themselves vaccinated from designated vaccine centres, an NCOC statement read.

In phase one, the country inoculated the Sinopharm vaccine to its frontline medical staff. The vaccine doses were donated by China earlier last month to help the country fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. Pakistan has so far registered 587,014 coronavirus cases, with 13,128 deaths.

The country last month launched a vaccination drive with 500,000 doses of Sinopharm donated by longtime ally China to give to frontline healthcare workers as a priority.

Covid19 Worldwide- Top Country Updates: Meanwhile, the nations with a death toll above 50,000 are the UK (124,259), Italy (98,974), France (87,988), Russia (86,368), Germany (71,420), Spain (70,501), Iran (60,431), Colombia (60,189), Argentina (52,644) and South Africa (50,462).

US Imposes Trade controls on Myanmar’s Military group that rules a country

Afghanistan: Clashes, terrorist attacks leave 90 dead over past 24 hours

Cambodia further defers 13th Asia-Europe Summit