Pakistan faces new challenge as private market opens up to sell vaccines

With hospital beds filling up fast and the government vaccination program progressing slowly due to delayed deliveries and limited supplies, the country is witnessing a massive challenge to protect its people against the virus which is ravaging the nation.

Initial sales of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine in the first weekend of April caused a frenzy, with crowds rushing to vaccination centers and queuing for hours for their shot, reports CNN.

Several centers sold out in days. Others that had initially allowed walk-ins switched to online sign-ups after being inundated with people. Many online booking systems have since been paused, as clinics slowly work through a backlog of inquiries, reports the American news channel.

One major importer is private pharmaceutical company AGP Pharma, which has received 50,000 doses of the two-shot Sputnik vaccine. Other companies and private hospitals are in the process of applying and placing orders, reports CNN.

The private vaccine is available for everyone in the nation.

"It's good that it's available privately, I have no idea when our turn will come through the government," Anushka Jatoi, 35, who got the vaccine with her family at a private hospital in the southern city of Karachi, told CNN.

But the private sales have also raised concerns about pricing and accessibility, and highlighted the country's deep-rooted social inequality. Most private sales are in large cities, such as Karachi and Islamabad, and remain inaccessible to residents in more rural areas -- and the price remains beyond most of Pakistan's population, reports the American news channel.

The Sputnik vaccine currently costs 12,000 Pakistani rupees ($80) for two doses, according to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).That's four times the international market price, which is less than $20 for two doses, according to the vaccine developers. And it's about 30% of an average household's monthly income, at $273.2 (41,545 rupees), according to the most recent available data by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, reports CNN.

Pakistan is currently facing a third wave of the virus and so far 15872 people have died due to it.