Pakistan failing to make its own COVID-19 vaccine due to lack of tech

Following a waiver by the World Trade Organisation, which eases intellectual property restrictions on mRNA vaccines, Pakistan looks poised to domestically produce jabs using this advanced technology but due to lack of technical capacity this “golden opportunity” may not materialise, reports The Dawn.

There’s a major hiccup. Pakistan does not have a biotechnology plant to manufacture the latest type of vaccines, University of Health Sciences (UHS) Vice Chancellor Dr Javed Akram told The Dawn.

A senior official of the Ministry of National Health Services, on condition of anonymity, told the newspaper that the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) waiver provided a “golden opportunity for Pakistan”.

Dr Akram, who is also a member of the Scientific Task Force on Covid-19, said that currently Pfizer and Moderna jabs were the only mRNA vaccines used in Pakistan.

He expressed concerns about Pakistan’s ability to take advantage of the waiver, saying that Islamabad does not have a single biotech plant used to produce such vaccines.

Health Services Academy Vice Chancellor Dr Shahzad Ali Khan, while talking to The Dawn, said: “It is the most advanced technology in which artificially genetic material is produced and injected into the human body to reduce chances of infection.

He added, “The mRNA vaccines are beneficial for a large number of diseases and I am hopeful that in future HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) will also be controlled through these jabs.”