China gives first COVID-19 vaccine approval to Sinopharm

BEIJING: China approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use, a shot developed by an affiliate of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, as it braces for greater transmission risks over the winter.

Although no detailed efficacy data of the vaccine has been publicly released the producer Beijing Biological Products Institute, a unit of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), said its vaccine was 79.34% effective in preventing people from developing the disease based on interim data.

The approval, announced by the National Medical Products Administration, comes after the United Arab Emirates (AEAE) this month became the first country to roll out the vaccine to the public, and as Pakistan announced a 1.2 million dose purchase deal with Sinopharm.

While China has been slower than several other countries in approving COVID-19 vaccines, it has been inoculating some citizens for months with three different shots still undergoing late-stage trials.

China launched an emergency use programme in July aimed at essential workers and others at high risk of infection. It has administered more than 4.5 million doses as of December 15 using at least three different products – two developed by CNBG and one by Sinovac Biotech.

While the efficacy of the Sinopharm shot trails the more than 90% success rate of rival vaccines from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech and Moderna , it points to progress China has made in the global race to develop successful COVID-19 vaccines.

China has at least five vaccines, developed by Sinovac, CNBG units, CanSino Biologics and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in late stage trials, underscoring its efforts to develop a homegrown vaccine to challenge Western rivals.

President Xi Jinping has pledged to make China’s vaccines a global public good and it has won several large supply deals with countries including Indonesia and Brazil.

The efficacy and safety data of China-made vaccines is being closely watched by many developing countries as they have limited early access to shots developed by Western drugmakers and are looking for alternatives from China and Russia.

While China has kept new outbreaks of the coronavirus under control, it is ramping up the emergency programme to contain the risks over the winter. China will vaccinate as many as 50 million people from high-priority groups before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.

The approval comes as Britain approved a second COVID-19 vaccine, a shot developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, as it battles a major winter surge driven by a new variant of the virus.