Covid: China's Sinovac vaccine gets World Health Organization immediate approval

#COVID-19 Vaccine

The W-H-O (World Health Organization) approved the China Sinovac Covid vaccine for immediate use.

It is the second Chinese vaccine to receive the green light from the World Health Organization, after Sinopharm.

It opens the door for jab to be used in the Covax program, which aims to ensure the availability of vaccines properly.

The vaccine, which is already in use in many countries, is recommended for over 18 years, in a second dose two to four weeks later.

Immediate accreditation means that the vaccine "meets international standards for safety, efficacy and productivity", says the WHO.

Studies have shown that Sinovac prevented more than half of all vaccinated infectious diseases and prevented severe symptoms and hospitalization of 100% of those educated, he added.

What is the Covax program?

Chinese Sinopharm jab gets WHO approval
It is hoped that the decision to draft a Chinese emergency vaccine will give impetus to the Covax program, which is plagued by supply problems.

The world desperately needs more Covid-19 injections to address global inequality, says Mariangela Simao, WHO's assistant director-general for access to health products.

#COVID-19

We urge producers to participate in the Covax facility, share their knowledge and data and participate in controlling the epidemic, he said.

Sinovac says it has provided more than 600 million volumes at home and abroad since the end of May. It says more than Four Hundreds Thirty million doses have been added.

One of the great benefits of Sinovac is that it can be stored in a standard refrigerator at 2-8 degrees Celsius. Sinovac vaccine is very useful in developing countries that could store huge amounts of the vaccine at low temperature.

The emergency approval came as the WHO, World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials applied for an $ 50bn (£ 35bn) investment fund to help eradicate the disease.

In a joint statement they said the world had reached a dangerous place, and that inequality in access to vaccines posed a risk of increasing the epidemic, as well as fatalities.

They called for investment in areas involving the production of vaccines, oxygen products and Covid-19 drugs, to ensure proper distribution.

They also called on rich countries to provide immediate vaccinations in developing countries.