Inside the CanSino Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial at Pakistan’s Shifa Hospital 

A general view of the Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan September 29, 2020. ( REUTERS photo)
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Updated 13 November 2020
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Inside the CanSino Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial at Pakistan’s Shifa Hospital 

  • The government plans to administer the experimental vaccine to at least 10,000 volunteers
  • Shifa International has repurposed a building previously used for COVID-19 testing for the trial

LAHORE: Doctors in green scrubs and sneakers darted in and out of specifically designated rooms at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad one nippy morning last month, attending to volunteers participating in late-stage clinical trials for a Chinese coronavirus vaccine.
Pakistan launched the trial in September for Ad5-nCoV, a vaccine candidate co-developed by CanSino Biologics and a Chinese military-backed research unit. The tests are being led by Pakistan’s National Institute of Health (NIH) and the Chinese company’s local representative.
This month’s announcement by Pfizer that its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90% effective based on initial trial results has been hailed as a major victory in the war against a virus that has killed over a million people and battered the world’s economy.

Though scientists, public health officials and investors have welcomed the first successful interim data from a large-scale clinical test as a watershed moment, they also say several vaccines will be necessary to meet massive global needs.
In Pakistan, the government plans to administer the experimental Chinese vaccine to at least 10,000 volunteers, doctors in charge of the program said.
Shifa International, the first of five trial sites, has repurposed a building previously used for COVID-19 testing for the trial. There are two more trial centers in Karachi and two in Lahore.
“There is a criterion that each volunteer has to fulfil,” Dr. Ejaz Khan, the chairman of infection control at Shifa Hospital, told Arab News.
Volunteers can arrive by appointment, or simply walk in, but must be over 18 years of age, willing to participate, have no major diseases and not have been infected with the coronavirus, Khan, who is heading the trials, said. Pregnant women cannot take part in the exercise.




Volunteers register for Chinese coronavirus vaccine trials at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, on October 27, 2020. (AN photo by Benazir Shah)

“Also, he or she must be able to participate for more than one year,” Khan added.
Doctors administering the trials said they had to ensure that each volunteer was first counselled on what to expect from the process, asked to sign a document of consent and have his or her basic health examined. Next, blood samples were taken, and then a colorless liquid — the vaccine — injected in the upper arm.
Since September 22, Khan said 4,020 people had taken part in the trial across the country, including at Shifa Hospital where doctors work from 9a.m. to 5p.m. every day to register volunteers’ data and store their samples.
During the year’s course, the volunteers will be monitored through weekly messages and monthly phone calls.
Each participant receives a one-time travel and food allowance of Rs3,000 on the first visit and Rs5,000 on the second, a year later, when he or she must provide a second blood sample.




Dr. Ejaz Khan, the chairman of infection control at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, talks to Arab News at his office on October 27, 2020. (AN photo by Benazir Shah)

Last month, sisters Urmila, 18, and Faiza, 20, who had arrived to volunteer for the trials, said they had come to know about the process from a neighbor, who told them that each candidate would receive a travel allowance.
“Yes that [the money] is one reason,” said Urmila when asked why she was volunteering, holding her national identity card, a pen and a questionnaire in her hands.
The form required basic contact details and a brief health history to be filled out before a candidate could be approved for the trial. “I don’t know what to write,” Urmila said. “I am not literate, you see.”




Sisters Urmila and Faiza volunteer for Phase III trials of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine at Shifa International Hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, on October 27, 2020. (AN photo by Benazir Shah)

Seated behind her was Sumaira Shafiq, a middle-aged housewife who unlike Urmila was still unsure whether she should participate in the trial. “I am observing right now,” she said. “Who knows, I might just slip out before my turn.”
If Shafiq ends up participating in the trial, her blood samples, like those of all participants, will be shipped to Dalhousie University in Canada, which will independently review the data to determine the vaccine’s efficacy.
By early next year, interim results are expected to become available.
“Let’s say three months from now, they [the university] will tell us okay this vaccine is not effective, stop the trials, or the vaccine is effective, let’s move to Phase IV,” Khan said.
Phase IV is when the vaccine will be prepared for manufacturing, marketing and distribution.
Pakistani officials have said once proven, they expect Pakistan will be provided with several million doses of the vaccine on a priority basis by CanSinoBio.
The Chinese vaccine, one of the nine developed worldwide that are considered safe, will be tested on 40,000 people in several countries.
So far only 10 percent of the participants have developed adverse reactions to the vaccine, Khan said: “These include pain in the injection area, body ache and fever.”


Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan parliament approves bills to extend tenure of services chiefs to five years

  • Extension in services of army, navy and air force chiefs follows controversial amendments to the constitution last month
  • The opposition PTI party condemns the amendments for changing Pakistan “from a democracy into a monarchy”

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s National Assembly and Senate on Monday approved bills to extend the tenure of the army, navy, and air force chiefs from three to five years, amid protests by the opposition benches. 

The office of the army chief is considered to be the most powerful in the country, with the army having ruled Pakistan for almost half of its 75-year history. Even when not directly in power, the army is considered to be the invisible guiding hand in politics and holds considerable sway in internal security, foreign policy, and economic affairs, among other domains. 

Six bills were passed by the upper and lower houses on Monday evening, including one to increase the term of the services chiefs.

“In the said Act, in section 8A, in sub-section (1), for the expression “three (03)” the word “five (05)” shall be substituted,” read the bill, seeking to amend the Pakistan Army Act, 1952.

Similar bills were passed to increase the duration of the country’s naval and air force chiefs to five years also. 

“The purpose of these amendments are to make consistent the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 (XXXIX of 1952) The Pakistan Navy Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance No. XXXV of 1961) and The Pakistan Air Force Act, 1953 (VI of 1953) with the maximum tenure of the Chief of the Army Staff, the Chief of the Naval Staff and the Chief of the Air Staff and to make consequential amendments for uniformity in the aforementioned laws.” 

Speaking outside parliament, the chairman of the opposition PTI party, Gohar Ali Khan, said:

“Today, democracy has been changed into a monarchy.”

Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Omar Ayub Khan, said “modifying the service chiefs’ tenure is not a good thing for the country and the armed forces.”

The passage of the new bills follows controversial amendments made to the constitution last month, granting lawmakers the authority to nominate the chief justice of Pakistan, who previously used to be automatically appointed according to the principle of seniority.

The amendments allowed the government to bypass the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, and appoint Justice Yahya Afridi as the country’s top judge, replacing former chief justice Qazi Faez Isa. 

The opposition and the legal fraternity had opposed the amendments, arguing that they were aimed at granting more power to the executive in making judicial appointments and curtailing the independence of the judiciary. The government denies this.


Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistani forces kill six militants in shootouts near border with Afghanistan — military

  • Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks recently
  • Pakistan blames the surge in militancy on militants operating out of Afghanistan, Kabul denies the allegations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed six militants in two separate engagements in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Monday.
A militant was killed in an exchange of fire during an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan’s Dosali area, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
In the second incident, Pakistani forces intercepted a group of militants while infiltrating the country’s border with Afghanistan in the South Waziristan district. Five militants were killed as a result.
“Pakistan has consistently been asking Interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Interim Afghan Government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij [militants] for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed a number of attacks by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups that targeted security forces convoys and check posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials in recent months.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups, urging the Taliban administration in Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
Afghan officials, however, deny involvement, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
 


Pakistan Navy test-fires ship-launched ballistic missile ranging 350 kilometers

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan Navy test-fires ship-launched ballistic missile ranging 350 kilometers

  • The missile is capable of striking land and sea targets with ‘high precision’
  • Pakistan, India consider their missile programs as deterrent against each other

KARACHI: Pakistan Navy has successfully test-fired a ship-launched ballistic missile having a range of 350 km and capable of striking both land and sea targets, it said on Monday.
Pakistan sees its missile development as a deterrent against nuclear-armed arch-foe India. Both countries have fought multiple wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.
The two South Asian neighbors have long been developing missiles of varying ranges in a bid to ensure deterrence against possible attacks from each other, with analysts often warning these developments could push the region into an arms race.
“Pakistan Navy conducted a successful flight test of an indigenously developed ship-launched ballistic missile,” the Directorate General of Public Relations (DGPR) of Pakistan Navy said in a statement.
“The weapon system with 350km range is capable of engaging land and sea targets with high precision.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikldB3jieWo
The flight test of the weapon system, equipped with a state-of-the-art navigation system and maneuverability features, was witnessed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Naveed Ashraf, senior naval officers, scientists and engineers.
President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir and Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Zaheer Ahmad Babar Sidhu congratulated the participating navy units and scientists on the development.
 
 


Qatar investment team due in Pakistan this month, PM Sharif says after Doha visit

Updated 04 November 2024
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Qatar investment team due in Pakistan this month, PM Sharif says after Doha visit

  • The statement comes days after Sharif visited Qatar seeking to bolster economic cooperation between both nations
  • Before arriving in Doha, Sharif attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh and met the Saudi Crown Prince

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Monday a team of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will visit Pakistan this month to set up an information technology (IT) park in the South Asian country.
The statement came days after Sharif visited Qatar while seeking to bolster economic cooperation amid Pakistan’s efforts to boost foreign investment to stabilize its frail $350 billion economy.
Before arriving in Doha, Sharif attended the Future Investment Initiative in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he discussed trade and investment with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Speaking at a meeting of his cabinet, Sharif said a QIA team will visit Pakistan this month, while its chief of Asia-Pacific & Africa Investments, Faisal Bin Thani Al Thani, will also arrive in Islamabad by the end of this month.
“Qatar emir said the same thing. They also suggested setting up an IT park here [in Pakistan],” Sharif told his cabinet members in televised comments.
During his visit, Sharif led delegation-level talks with the Qatari emir before holding a separate meeting with him to discuss a wide array of issues.
“The leaders reviewed the entire spectrum of Pakistan-Qatar relations, exploring potential avenues for enhanced cooperation in trade, potential areas of investment, energy, and culture,” Sharif’s office said last week.
He also met a delegation of the Qatar Businessmen Association (QBA) and invited them to invest in Pakistan’s energy, infrastructure and technology sectors.
The developments came amid Pakistan’s attempts to increase trade and foreign investment after it narrowly escaped a default last year by securing a last-gasp $3 billion financial assistance package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The South Asian country has since sought to promote closer economic ties with regional and international allies to bolster its fragile economy, which has been suffering from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.
 


Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%

Updated 04 November 2024
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Pakistan central bank cuts key rate by 250 bps to 15%

  • Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 in July and 200 in September
  • It takes the total policy rate cuts in the country to 700 bps in under five months

KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank cut its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday, it said in a statement, for a fourth straight reduction since June, as the country keeps up efforts to revive a sluggish economy with inflation easing.
Most respondents in a Reuters poll last week expected a cut of 200 bps after inflation moved down sharply from a multi-decade high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023, saying reductions were needed to bolster growth.
Average consumer price index inflation in the South Asian country is 8.7 percent in the current financial year, which started in July, the statistics bureau says. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects inflation to average 9.5 percent for the year ending June.
Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July, and 200 in September that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22 percent, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year. It takes the total cuts to 700 bps in under five months.
October inflation came in at 7.2 percent, slightly above the government’s expectation of 6 percent to 7 percent. The finance ministry expects inflation to slow further to 5.5 percent to 6.5 percent in November.
However, inflation could pick up again in 2025, driven by electricity and gas price increases after a new $7-billion IMF bailout, and the potential impact of taxes on the retail, wholesale and the farm sector announced in the June budget to take effect in January 2025, some analysts say.