SHC orders to fix Corona vaccine price within week

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has directed the Federal government to fix the price of Russian corona vaccine (Sputnik) within a week.

The Sindh High Court on Wednesday, heard the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan’s (DRA) appeal against the release of Corona Vaccine Sputnik-5.

During the hearing, DRAP’s lawyer said that a restraining order has been issued regarding the price of Sputnik-5 vaccine, it is a matter of public interest and the price is yet to be fixed.

Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said that the matter of public interest is fine but go to the concerned judge, the vaccine cannot be sold in the market till the signature of the drug inspector.

DRAP attorney said the vaccine will not be sold until the price is determined and the price of the vaccine has not yet been approved by the cabinet.

Justice Amjad Ali Sehto in his remarks said that the DRAP is doing wrong, if someone has imported the vaccine he will sell it.
“DRAP wants to allow sales to another company to reward its favorites. We have invested 25 million on vaccine imports,” the lawyer said.

DRAP’s lawyer said they wanted to sell the vaccine at their choice price, hence they should be prevented to sell it in the market before the price was not fixed. He further said the federal government had allowed the import of the corona vaccine.

To a query of Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar as to when price will be fixed, DRAP lawyer said “We will determine the price of the vaccine this week”.

Justice Amjad Ali Sehto in his remarks said that the company is also not free to sell vaccines for 100 dollars.

The lawyer of the company said that if the company is allowed to re-export, we will sell it to someone else. “We should be given time to consult with the federal government. The government is delaying the pricing. We will sell it to someone else,” he said.

Justice Amjad Ali Sehto told the company’s lawyer that there are 6 types of vaccines. You should fix the rate and then import whatever you want.

The company lawyer said that the government is cheating us now. In response, DRAP lawyer said that we are not standing here for our own sake, this is a matter of public interest.

The Sindh High court in its remarks said that it is expected that the single bench will settle all the cases in ten days.

Chinese Cansino vaccine

Earlier, on Tuesday, the Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho addressing a press conference said the provincial government would buy Cansino’s Coronavirus vaccine directly from China after the federal government allowed provinces to purchase jabs independently.

She said that Rs500 million had been allocated by the Sindh government for purchase of the single-dose vaccine.