‘W.H.O. APPROVAL OF CHINESE COVID JAB REPRESENTS A MILESTONE’

BEIJING: The World Health Organisation’s (WHO) decision to validate the first Chinese Covid-19 vaccine represents a “milestone”, the UN agency’s China chief has said, adding that it could spur 15 more Covid jabs in development here to pursue the same path.

The WHO on Friday gave the green light to China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, approving the vaccine to be rolled out globally.

It is the first vaccine developed by a non-western country to get the UN health agency’s backing though China has already vaccinated millions of people at home, since last year, and in dozens of other countries with it.

It was also the first time the WHO had given emergency use approval to a Chinese vaccine to be used globally for any infectious disease.

In a statement issued on Saturday, Gauden Galea, WHO’S representative to China called it a “milestone achievement”.