Factbox: Chronicle of global responses to China-developed vaccines

0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, January 26, 2021
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BEIJING, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Vowing to make COVID-19 vaccines public goods that are accessible and affordable to all, China has developed several vaccines which have been put into use in the global market.

Here are the latest responses to the China-developed COVID-19 vaccines from countries around the world:

-- Turkey received on Monday 6.5 million more doses of COVID-19 vaccines produced by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac.

The latest shipment was part of a second planned consignment of 10 million doses, Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said.

The country received the first batch of 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China at the end of December 2020 and launched the mass vaccine campaign on Jan. 14.

-- Egypt started on Sunday vaccinating medical staff with Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in the northeastern province of Ismailia, according to Egyptian Health Minister Hala Zayed.

The minister explained that clinical trials have proved the Sinopharm vaccine is safe and highly effective in COVID-19 prevention, especially "in prevention of COVID-19 infection with severe symptoms."

Egypt received on Dec. 10, 2020 the first batch of Sinopharm vaccine, which was officially licensed for emergency use later in the same month.

-- Morocco last week approved the emergency use of Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, the country's Health Ministry said in a statement.

"The vaccine meets all the conditions of quality, efficacy and safety, and does not present any potential side effects," it said.

The first batch of coronavirus vaccines developed by Sinopharm will arrive in Morocco later this month, according to the ministry.

-- The Public Health Institute of Chile (ISP) last week approved the emergency use of the vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech.

"We obtained very good results regarding the manufacturing quality and the strains being developed in the manufacture of this vaccine. We are approving a safe and effective vaccine for the population," Heriberto Garcia, acting director of the ISP, said.

The Chinese vaccine has been tested since the end of 2020 on volunteers participating in a phase III clinical trial run by the Institute of Immunotherapy and Immunology at Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.

-- Brazil's Health Regulatory Agency (Anvisa) last week unanimously approved the emergency use of another 4.8 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine against COVID-19.

The request was made by the Sao Paulo-based Butantan Institute on Jan. 18, a day after Anvisa authorized the use of the first batch of 6 million doses of CoronaVac, which kicked off a countrywide COVID-19 vaccination process.

The vaccine is developed by China's Sinovac Biotech in partnership with the Butantan Institute. Anvisa said it considers CoronaVac a "safe, quality and effective vaccine," noting that its application in the first week of immunization has not presented any problems.

-- Serbian health authorities last week approved the use of Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine, two days after 1 million doses were imported from China, enabling the country to begin with the mass immunization of its population.

"The agency and its employees assessed the necessary documentation and scientific evidence in a highly professional and thorough manner according to all European Union and World Health Organization standards, which confirmed the quality, efficiency, and above all the safety of the Chinese vaccine," Pavle Zelic, an official with the Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices of Serbia, told local media.

-- Azerbaijan's senior health officials last week took their first inoculations of a vaccine made by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech, marking the beginning of mass vaccination against COVID-19 in the country.

Specialists decided that "the best vaccine for Azerbaijan is the vaccine of the Sinovac company" as it has passed clinical tests in many countries, said Azerbaijani Health Minister Ogtay Shiraliyev.

Azerbaijan purchased 4 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, the first batch of which has been recently delivered to the country.

-- In a taped public address aired earlier this month, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has defended the purchase of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by the Chinese makers, saying the Chinese vaccines are "safe, sure, and secure."

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque echoed Duterte's statement, saying that he also prefers the Chinese companies Sinovac and Sinopharm inactivated vaccines.

The Philippines has secured 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech, with the first 50,000 doses expected to arrive in February. The rest of the vaccines will be delivered in tranches from March until December this year.

-- The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) last week approved a vaccine by Sinopharm for emergency use amid rising cases of COVID-19 in the country.

A handout by the DRAP on its official website read that Sinopharm, one of the two vaccines approved by the authority, has been given emergency use authorization after evaluating its safety and quality.

-- Indonesia's national vaccination program kicked off earlier this month after President Joko Widodo received the first shot of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech on Jan. 13.

In December 2020, the Indonesian government said it has ordered 3 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine and 100,000 doses of the Cansino vaccine, both from China.

-- Thailand was expected to buy 2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, the World Health Organization in Thailand said early this month.

Thailand's Ministry of Public Health expected the first batch of 200,000 doses to arrive in the country at the end of February, the second batch of 800,000 doses to arrive at the end of March, while the remaining 1 million doses to be delivered at the end of April. Enditem

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