The World Health Organization (WHO) on May 7, 2021, approved China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use. The Sinopharm vaccine will now be included in the UN-backed COVAX vaccine distribution scheme.
“This afternoon, WHO gave emergency use listing to Sinopharm Beijing’s COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy, and quality,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference.
"The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization, or SAGE, has also reviewed the available data, and recommends the vaccine for adults 18 years and older, with a two-dose schedule."-@DrTedros https://t.co/0ASiom6H72
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) May 7, 2021
WHO has already given its approval for the Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, and Moderna but gave its approval to Sinopharm, a two-dose vaccine, after quite a delay due to the unavailability of data.
WHO chief Tedros further informed that the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) has also reviewed the available data on the Sinopharm vaccine and recommends it to be administered to adults over 18 years two-dose schedule.
About the Sinopharm vaccine:
•The Sinopharm vaccine is produced by the Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
•It is a two-dose vaccine. It is easy to store and highly viable for low-resource settings.
•It is the first vaccine that comes along with a vial monitor that changes color when exposed to heat.
•The efficacy rate for symptomatic cases has been estimated to be 79 per cent.
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