By Christine Fabro
The World Health Organization (WHO) granted emergency use for the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine yesterday (May 7) to be rolled out globally – the first Chinese-made vaccine to gain WHO approval.
According to Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Health Products, this additional listing has the potential to “rapidly accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk.”
The vaccine has an efficacy rate of 79% for symptomatic and hospitalized cases, and is recommended for adults 18 years and older, administered in a two-dose schedule.
The Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine is also the first vaccine that will carry a vaccine vial monitor, which indicates whether the vaccine can be safely used and its easy storage requirements makes it highly suitable for low-resource settings.
WHO previously listed Pfizer/BioNTech, AstraZeneca/Oxford, Serum Institute of India, Janssen, and Moderna vaccines for emergency use. –WHO/CF-RIR
