The manufacturer, a state-controlled company called Sinopharm, said a candidate made by its Institute of Biological Products arm had an 79% efficacy rate
ISLAMABAD, Jan.1 (Gwadar Pro) - Pakistan has decided to buy coronavirus vaccine from Chinese company Sinopharm, a senior minister said on Thursday evening.
Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said that initially 1.2 million doses of the vaccine will be imported in the first quarter of 2021 and frontline workers will be inoculated for free.
In a tweet, he said that the private sector was also allowed to import internationally approved coronavirus vaccines.
Phase 3 trials of a Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine was found 79 percent effective, the Chinese pharma giant said, lower than rival jabs developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna but a potential breakthrough in the battle to stem the pandemic in Asia.
China has authorized its first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine for general use, adding another shot that could see wide use in poorer countries as the virus surges back around the globe.
The vaccine is the first one approved for general use in China.
Chen Shifei, the deputy commissioner of Chinaâs Medical Production Administration, said at a news conference Thursday that the decision had been made the previous night.
The vaccine is an inactivated, two-dose vaccine from the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of state-owned conglomerate Sinopharm.
In this photo Dec. 25, 2020 released by Xinhua News Agency, packages of COVID-19 inactivated vaccine products are seen at a production plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd, a unit of state-owned Sinopharm in Beijing. The Chinese drugmaker said Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2020 its coronavirus vaccine was found to be 79.3% effective at preventing infection in preliminary data from the final round of testing, moving Beijing closer to possibly being able to fulfill its pledge to suppl(AP)
As U.S. Vaccine Drive Lags, Fast-Moving Coronavirus Variant Is Making Inroads
Last Updated
Jan. 9, 2021, 10:40 a.m. ETJan. 9, 2021, 10:40 a.m. ET
New York, moving toward a targeted reopening, will allow some fans to attend a football game. Britain approves the vaccine from AstraZeneca and Oxford.
Here’s what you need to know:
People waiting in line to be vaccinated at a library in Bonita Springs, Fla., on Tuesday.Credit.Octavio Jones for The New York Times
A slower-than-expected vaccine rollout in the United States may be about to meet a fast-moving new variant of the coronavirus.
Officials in two states, Colorado and California, say they have discovered cases of the more contagious variant, which was first identified in Britain.