WHO Approves China’s Sinopharm COVID Vaccine for Emergency Use

The World Health Organization (WHO) has given approval to the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in the fight against COVID-19. The grant brings huge relief for China. They are viewing this nod as a positive gesture for their vaccine diplomacy as it will allow them to push vaccines in several countries. China has given a green signal to five of its vaccines for emergency use where it is especially using Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines to be used at home as well as abroad.

The Sinopharm vaccine has already got authorisation from 45 nations and jurisdictions to be used in adults, but several countries were showing hesitation to use it as it has not got recognition from the WHO due to data-related issues. But with the nod from the global health body, the Sinopharm vaccine has now become the first Chinese vaccine to be approved for global roll-out.

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"WHO has given emergency use approval to the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine, which makes it the sixth COVID-19 vaccine to get the approval for safety, efficacy and quality from WHO," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a news conference. It is an inactivated vaccine that is given in two-jab and known as SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine (Vero Cell). The easy storage needs of the vaccine make it ideal for low-resource settings, according to the WHO press release.

The approval has opened the door for the vaccine to enter the Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme, the objective is to offer equitable access to doses across the globe and particularly in poorer nations. The Sinopharm vaccine is already in use in 42 countries across the world, which is fourth behind AstraZeneca (166), Pfizer-BioNTech (94) and Moderna (46), as per the AFP tally.

However, another approval is expected for Sinovac, which is another Chinese-made vaccine that is already being used in 22 countries.

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Disclaimer: This article is issued in the general public interest and meant for general information purposes only. Readers are advised not to rely on the contents of the article as conclusive in nature and should research further or consult an expert in this regard.