WHO Approves China’s Sinopharm Vaccine
In a significant move on Friday, the World Health Organization has given emergency approval for the Covid-19 vaccine produced by Chinese firm Sinopharm.
The step signals the first time a vaccine developed by a non-Western country has received WHO backing.
China has already been utilizing the vaccine within its own borders as well as some regions in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Until now, the WHO had only approved the vaccines made by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.
The approval by WHO also means that the Sinopharm vaccine can be supplied to the Covax facility, which has so far only been able to deliver 50 million doses globally.
For Trinidad and Tobago, an NDA has already been signed with China for the supply of 100,000 doses of the vaccine.
The deal, which was struck in March, was on hold pending WHO’s approval.