LAHORE, October 1, 2020: Pakistan, just like all other countries, started COVID19 vaccine trials a few months back. It is now heading towards the Phase III clinical trial in Pakistan. the doctors are now urging people to volunteer for the trial to overcome the resistance in the country to immunization programs.
The COVID19 vaccine Ad5-nCoV, which was co-developed by CanSino Biologics and a Chinese military-backed research unit was launched in Pakistan last week. This CanSino vaccine is the first-ever large scale trial in Pakistan,
Previously in the years when the polio eradication campaign was in works, it had already faced a lot of criticism by Islamists who believe it is a foreign ploy. Keeping that in mind, healthcare workers and physicians are finding it difficult to convince people to volunteer for COVID19 vaccine trials.
According to Ejaz A. Khan the head of trials at Shifa International, mentions, “There are lots of challenges whenever you introduce something new and a vaccine is part of it. Vaccine hesitancy, unfortunately, with a country like Pakistan is also pretty much high,”.
“People should come and volunteer, people should not be hesitant. They can take part and become part of the team which is fighting COVID-19.
It is mentioned that the people who are interested in volunteering for the trials must be over 18 and not have tested positive for COVID-19. Moreover, they should not have immune deficiencies, and not be pregnant for the duration of the trial. For the ones who want to volunteer, one-time 2k Pakistani rupees ($12) travel and food compensation will be provided.
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