The government has issued revised guidelines for AstraZeneca vaccines and has allowed all citizens aged 18 or above to get the jabs. Earlier it was decided to reserve this vaccine for people only over 40.
This decision comes as a huge relief for people travelling to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage and other reasons.
Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Health Dr Faisal Sultan while talking to a local TV channel said that Pakistanis who are travelling to Saudi Arabia can get the Oxford vaccine after showing their documents.
The Saudi authorities have only only approved Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, while in Pakistan, Chinese vaccines are mostly being used.
Earlier, in May, the Pakistani health authorities had restricted the use of Oxford for people under 40.
Furthermore, SAPM Sultan said the government will issue the directives later today according to which all those above 18 can get the vaccine and those travelling to the kingdom can also get it after showing travel documents.
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He also urged the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure that the vaccines approved by it are universally acceptable and Pakistan is in talks with the Saudi authorities in this regard.
The WHO has granted emergency use listing of eight vaccines, including two Chinese vaccines.
