Pakistan approves Chinese COVID-19 vaccines Sinopharm, Sinovac for children above 12

Pakistan on Thursday approved Chinese COVID-19 vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac for children above 12 with an efficacy rate of 79 per cent and 51 per cent respectively.

The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), in a tweet, said the forum's expert committee had approved administering the vaccines -- in addition to Pfizer -- to the age group from November 15 onwards, reported Geo News.

So far, the country has administered more than 5.5 million vaccines to students between the ages of 12-18 years.

Pakistan administered 1.7 million coronavirus vaccine doses on November 9, which was its highest daily tally to date, reported Geo News.

Meanwhile, in the last 24 hours, the country has reported 637 fresh coronavirus cases and nine deaths, as per NCOC's daily stats.

The total tally of COVID-19 cases has reached 1.27 million, while the death toll has bumped to 28,575, the NCOC website showed.

The NCOC had emphasised stepping up the administration of the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine to eligible individuals to sufficiently raise the immunity level of the population for long-term dividends, reported Geo News.

( With inputs from ANI )