The World Health Organization (WHO) has given Sinopharm permission to use the covid-19 vaccine in an emergency. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO chief, announced in Geneva. According to international news agencies, this means that UN organizations can buy and distribute the vaccine. The WHO Advisory Group’s decision opens the door for Sinopharm to be included in the WHO’s COVAX program, distributing vaccines to middle- and low-income countries in the coming weeks or months. According to the DPA agency, China pledged to add ten million vaccine doses to the COVAX program in February.
Vaccine effectiveness
Based on the SAGE panel’s recommendations, the WHO approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, with a 79 percent efficacy ranking. People over the age of 18 will be able to use it, according to Tedros. To gain complete immunity, two doses are needed.
For now, Pfizer / BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna anti-peptide vaccines have all been licensed by the WHO for emergency use. The second Chinese Sinovac vaccine, similar to Russia’s Sputnik V and American manufacturer Novavax, is currently undergoing WHO approval.
Who can use Sinopharm?
The European Union, the United States, and other countries’ approval processes are not affected by today’s WHO decision. The European Union, the United States, and other countries’ approval processes are unaffected by today’s WHO decision. States that cannot determine the feasibility and safety of preparations independently obey the World Health Organization’s decisions.
According to official statistics, the Chinese government has used more than 200 million doses of anti-cancer vaccines, with more than 100 million doses shipped abroad. Only Hungary has begun to use Sinopharm in the EU, and it has done so without the European Medicines Agency’s approval (EMA). In Serbia and other Balkan countries, the vaccine is also commonly used.