Geneva, May 7 (AP) The World Health Organisation gave emergency use authorisation Friday to a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinopharm, potentially paving the way for millions of the doses to reach needy countries through a UN-backed programme rolling out coronavirus vaccines.
The decision by a WHO technical advisory group, a first for a Chinese vaccine, opens the possibility that Sinopharm’s offering could be included in the UN-backed COVAX programme in coming weeks or months and distributed through UN children’s agency UNICEF and WHO’s Americas regional office.
Aside from efficacy numbers, the Chinese manufacturer has released very little public data about its two vaccines one developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.
The Beijing shot is one the WHO advisory group considered for the emergency use listing.
This afternoon, WHO gave emergency use listing to sign off on Beijing’s COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhahom Ghebreysus said. PTI

Press Trust of India