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Updated May 7th, 2021 at 22:03 IST

China's Sinopharm COVID Vaccine gets WHO's approval; first Chinese vaccine to do so

The United Nations' Health Agency gave a green signal on the two-dose vaccine, which is already being deployed in dozens of countries around the world

Reported by: Ujjwal Samrat
Sinopharm COVID Vaccine
Credits: AP | Image:self
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The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday announced it has approved the COVID-19 vaccine from China's state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm for emergency use. With this, Sinopharm's COVID Vaccine has become the first Made-In-China vaccine to get the approval of the WHO. In fact, it is also the first time the WHO has given emergency use approval to any Chinese vaccine for any infectious disease.

The United Nations' Health Agency gave a green signal on the two-dose vaccine, which is already being deployed in dozens of countries around the world. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a press conference revealed that they have approved the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use making it the sixth COVID-19 vaccine to have been approved by the WHO. 

"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.  The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation, or SAGE, has also reviewed the available data, and recommends the vaccine for adults 18 years and older, with a two-dose schedule," said  WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a news conference.

Sinopharm's COVID Vaccine Available For People Above 18 Years

The official website of Sinopharm quoted Liu Jingzhen, Chairman of the state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), who revealed that the vaccine prioritises people aged 18-59. "The leaflet of the vaccine says the age for vaccination is above 18, and that is to say age 3-17 is not included. This is because our clinical trials were firstly on age group 18-59, followed by age above 60 and then 3-17. And there were 3 sub-groups for age 3-17 which were age 12-17, 5-12, and 3-5. Therefore, there were altogether 5 age groups in the trials. Now we have finished all research work on age group 3-17, the safety data showing good results, and immunogenicity data under analyzing. In future, the vaccination is expected to cover whole age groups above 3," said Liu Jingzhen. 

As per reports, the Sinopharm vaccine is already in use in 42 territories around the world, fourth behind AstraZeneca (166), Pfizer-BioNTech (94) and Moderna (46). Besides China, it is being used in Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Peru, the United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Seychelles, among others.

(Image Credits: AP)

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Published May 7th, 2021 at 22:03 IST

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