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China approved its first COVID-19 vaccine for general public use.
The vaccine was developed by the state company Sinopharm. The vaccines had already been approved for emergency use by groups such as healthcare professionals and essential workers. But the general public’s approval came on New Year’s Eve.
China has launched a program aiming to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year holiday in February.
The approval of the Sinopharm vaccine will allow China to stockpile large supplies at home. It also brings the country closer to being able to send the vaccine to other countries.
China’s approval came a day after Britain approved a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. The AstraZeneca vaccine is less expensive and easier to store and use than the injections developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
Developing countries have closely followed AstraZeneca and Sinopharm injections. Many of those countries have not been able to obtain the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines because they are shipped primarily to wealthy nations.
Pakistan’s science minister said his government planned to buy 1.2 million dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, two days after the total deaths from COVID-19 in the country reached 10,000.
China’s approval of the Sinopharm vaccine came a day after the company announced that early data from late-stage trials had shown the injections to be 79.3 percent effective. However, the announcement did not identify the size of the control group, how many people were vaccinated, or at what point the effective rate was reached after administration of the vaccine. Health experts have called for more data on the trials to be shared.
The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines were conducted in trials with success rates greater than 90 percent.
Technically, China granted conditional approval to the Sinopharm vaccine, which means that research and trials are still ongoing. An official from the China National Medical Products Administration told reporters that the company will need to prepare monitoring data and reports of any adverse effects after the sale of the vaccine in the market.
Sinopharm, which is also working on another vaccine, is one of at least five Chinese developers involved in a global race to create vaccines for COVID-19. While the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna intakes have been well received in the West, those intakes are more sensitive to temperature and require extremely cold storage.
The Sinopharm vaccine, like AstraZeneca’s, may be easier for countries around the world to handle as they can be stored under normal conditions. fridge temperatures. Both shots, as well as Russia’s Sputnik V, are expected to supply much of the developing world. That means the cost will also be important.
AstraZeneca is expected to cost around $ 2.50 a dose, while Russia has said it will be priced at $ 10 for the world market. The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine costs about $ 20 per dose, while Moderna’s costs between $ 15 and $ 25, according to agreements with the US government.
Chinese officials have yet to set the price for their Sinopharm vaccine and have made conflicting statements about it. An official said it would be affordable for Chinese audiences, but another suggested it would be free. President Xi Jinping promised to donate a Chinese-made vaccine as a public good to the world.
The Sinopharm injection is already in mass production, but officials have yet to name its current capacity. The vaccine has already been approved in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, and will also be used in Morocco.
Other countries have also been buying doses of another Chinese candidate vaccine, made by Sinovac Biotech. Turkey recently received shipments of 3 million doses of that vaccine, and Indonesia and Brazil have also purchased supplies.
Belarus and Argentina recently launched mass vaccination campaigns using the Sputnik V injections developed in Russia.
I am Bryan Lynn.
The Associated Press and Reuters reported on this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the reports for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
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Words in this story
essential – adj. very important and necessary
dose – n. the amount of medicine or vaccine needed to be effective against the disease
adverse – adj. have a negative or harmful effect on something
fridge – n. a device or room used to keep things cool
affordable – adj. it is not expensive
capacity – n. the total amount of something that can be contained or produced
