ISLAMABAD – The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has approvedthe Russian anti-coronavirus vaccine Gam-COVID-Vac, also known as SputnikV, for emergency use.

According to details, the registration board of the DRAP in its 299thmeeting on Friday, had granted ‘emergency use authorization’ (EUA) to theRussian vaccine.

The concerned authorities have told that the first batch of the vaccinewould reach Pakistan by the end of January.

Earlier, DRAP had approved Oxford–AstraZeneca and China’s Sinopharmvaccines for emergency use in Pakistan.

On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 48 deaths in the last 24 hours bynovel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 532,412.The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 11,295.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and OperationCenter (NCOC) 1,594 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24hours.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of casesfollowed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad.

Till now 240,570 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 153,410 inPunjab 65,287 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 40,713 in Islamabad, 18,736 inBalochistan, 8,795 in Azad Kashmir and 4,901 in Gilgit-Baltistan.