Pakistan has approved the emergency use of a Russian vaccine to combat the spread of the coronavirus.
The approval of Sputnik-V comes on the heels of the green light given to vaccines developed by Oxford University-AstraZeneca and Chinese state-owned firm Sinopharm.
No date was given for the start of the rollout of Sputnik-V.
Pakistan, the world’s fifth most populous nation, has officially recorded just over 11,000 deaths from COVID-19, though observers say the actual numbers are much higher.
Sputnik-V lacks large-scale clinical trials to support its safety and efficacy and does not have the approval of the European Medicines Agency or the World Health Organization.
Nonetheless, several foreign countries and territories are already using the vaccine, including Belarus, Serbia, Argentina, Bolivia, Algeria, and Palestine, according to the manufacturer.
Russia anticipates another 10 countries will register the vaccine in the coming weeks.
