ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Faisal Sultan claimed in a tweet on Saturday that Pakistan had administered over five million Covid-19 doses – a feat achieved by only 29 other countries.

“As we go over the 5 million doses mark for Covid vaccines given, let us reaffirm our commitment to the data driven, balanced response that has been the hallmark of the Pakistan Covid effort with dividends in health AND with economic good news - 3.94% growth,” Dr Sultan tweeted.

An official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), said it was a major development that Pakistan was being counted among the 30 countries which had administered over five million doses to its citizens.

When asked about other nations that had surpassed the figure, the official named the United States, China, India, Russia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, Turkey, Israel, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Canada and Japan.

“Morocco, Romania, the Netherlands, Poland, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Chile are also part of the list,” he added.

The NHS ministry official said vaccination against Covid-19 began in February in Pakistan but still “we managed to give over five million doses in three months”.

The pace will increase further and we are hoping to achieve the overall target of 10 million vaccines in one month,” he added.

When asked that being the fifth most populous country, Pakistan should have achieved the target of five million doses much earlier, the official said it should be kept in mind that the country did not manufacture the vaccine.

“Moreover we failed to deposit the advance amount for vaccine like Canada and other countries did, due to various reasons, including possible National Accountability Bureau cases. Despite this, we managed to arrange the vaccine and now we have sufficient stocks,” he added.

On the other hand, vaccination of people aged 30 years and above started on Saturday.