WHO panel OKs emergency use of Sinopharm vaccine

The World Health Organization gave emergency use authorization Friday to a Covid-19 vaccine manufactured by China's Sinopharm, potentially paving the way for millions of the doses to reach needy countries through a U.N.-backed program rolling out coronavirus vaccines.

The decision by a WHO technical advisory group — a first for a Chinese vaccine — opens the possibility that Sinopharm's offering could be included in the U.N.-backed COVAX program in coming weeks or months and distributed through UNICEF and the WHO's Americas regional office.

Aside from efficacy numbers, the Chinese manufacturer has released very little public data about its two vaccines — one developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.

The Beijing shot is one the WHO advisory group considered for the emergency use listing.

"This afternoon, WHO gave emergency use listing to sign off on Beijing's Covid-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhahom Ghebreysus told reporters.

The Sinopharm vaccine will join ones made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India, in receiving the coveted authorization from the U.N. health agency.

The announcement raised the prospect that the Chinese vaccine, which has already been exported by millions of doses in some countries, could join the U.N.'s arsenal against Covid-19 at a time when supplies of other Westernmade or -developed vaccines have been lacking.

"The addition of (the Sinopharm) vaccine has the potential to rapidly accelerate Covid-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk," said Dr. Mariangela Simao, WHO assistant director general for access to health products.