Sinopharm increases vaccine production to meet demand
WITH more than 43 million doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine being used globally, the Chinese stateowned biotech company is ramping up production to exceed one billion doses this year.
The Beijing-based company has developed two Covid-19 vaccines, one of which has been approved for emergency use by the general population in China as well as countries abroad. The other was developed at its Wuhan unit to be used for select groups with higher virus exposure within China.
According to China Global Television Network (CGTN), it took Sinopharm 335 days from developing the initial inactivated vaccine to obtaining conditional approval for general public use in China on December 31.
And, in the race for a vaccine, the United Arab Emirates, like other countries, wasted no time in placing orders and was among the first to obtain the Sinopharm vaccine.
Others soon followed as Egypt received its first batch in mid-January to roll out a vaccination campaign for medical staff of public hospitals and is set to receive an additional 300 000 doses.
Morocco received half a million doses late last month and last week Colombia received its first batch of 200 000 doses.
Senegal bought 200 000 doses earlier this month and is expecting 1.3 million more through the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global vaccine-sharing scheme, Covax.
“The urgency today is to protect our health workers on the front line against the pandemic,” Senegal’s President Macky Sall said in a televised interview.
“It is also to protect people over 60 years old and those living with co-morbidity. We will begin vaccinating people in these three categories as they are the priority.”
In its bid to promote global vaccine equity, China teamed up with the WHO and pledged to donate 10 million Sinopharm vaccine doses through Covax to assist 53 developing countries in need of the vaccine.
“We will try our best to produce more high-quality vaccines as quickly as possible on the basis of safety and standards to contribute to a fairer distribution of Covid-19 vaccines,” Yang Xiaoming, chairperson of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group, said on the national health commission’s website.
Earlier this month, Zimbabwe received its donation of 200000 vaccines and the Chinese government stated it would donate 100 000 doses to Namibia.
“This fully reflects the high-level bilateral relations between our two countries,” said Chinese ambassador to Namibia Zhang Yiming.
“I hope it can help Namibia overcome the pandemic soon and make a tangible contribution to the construction of a global community of health,” he said. | African News Agency (ANA)
CRYPTIC CLUES ACROSS
1 They’re certainly not hopeless! (9)
8 Less than two for a tune (3)
9 Settle what star turns won’t do? (4,3,4)
11 He reads the cut version! (7)
12 Not a genuine stone or stick (5)
13 Fruit that’s apparently nearer than pointblank! (6)
15 Possibly go over a furrow (6)
17 Man’s highest state? (5)
18 A night in France cuts into any kind of regular income (7)
20 Occasion some face with resolution (3,5,3)
22 Finality of purpose (3) 23 It’s a rigid rule (9)
DOWN
2 One in favour of being paid? (3)
3 Mother can’t lose at chess (5)
4 Stayed unusually balanced (6)
5 Footwear for one on ice? (7)
6 Remembers and shouts a warning (5,2,4)
7 But he’s certainly not a coy foe! (4-5)
10 Singular displays of musical virtuosity (3-3,5) 11 An arresting cry, perhaps (4,5)
14 It could be used to make a getaway! (7)
16 Make rapid progress in a profession (6)
19 Standards and not a manuscript (5)
21 Car goes into a bend (3)
QUICK CLUES ACROSS
1 Confederations (9) 8 Regret (3)
9 As an example (3,8)
11 Determine (7)
12 Build (5)
13 Sharp struggle (6) 15 Abandon (6)
17 Uplift (5)
18 Maintains (7)
20 Change direction (5,6)
22 Consume (3)
23 Efforts (9)
DOWN
2 Zodiac sign (3)
3 Cancel (5)
4 Dealer in knives (6)
5 Genuine (7)
6 Ancestor (11)
7 Pauses in doubt (9) 10 Revive (11)
11 Withdrew (9)
14 Infant’s outfit (7) 16 Penetrate (6)
19 Corpulent (5)
21 Transgression (3)