China approves first homegrown coronavirus vaccine for general public 2 minutes read
Shanghai, China, Dec 31 (efe-epa).- China has approved for general public distribution a homegrown coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned pharma giant Sinopharm, moving a step closer towards a massive inoculation campaign, officials said on Thursday.
The approval came after the developer on Wednesday said it had filed for conditional marketing authorization from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) after reporting that the vaccine efficacy was 79.34 percent.
A unit of the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), a Sinopharm affiliate, and its subsidiary, Beijing Institute of Biological Products, have developed the vaccine.
Updated
Dec 31, 2020
China Approves 1st Homegrown Vaccine With Research Still Ongoing
Sinopharm said that preliminary data from last-stage trials had shown the vaccine to be 79.3% effective.
HUIZHONG WU and KEN MORITSUGU
BEIJING (AP) China has approved its first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine for general use, health regulators said Thursday, marking the addition of another vaccine in the global fight against a virus that is surging back in many places as winter sets in.
The two-dose vaccine from state-owned Sinopharm is the first approved for general use in China. The go-ahead comes shortly after the country launched a program to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year holiday in February. It also comes one day after British regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s inexpensive and easy-to-handle vaccine.
Sinopharm vaccine approved conditionally for use in Chinese market The Media Line Staff 12/31/2020
A vaccine developed by China’s state-owned Sinopharm is the first local vaccine to receive conditional approval for general use in China, health regulators announced Thursday. A day earlier, the company announced that preliminary data from final phase 3 trials had shown the vaccine to be 79.3% effective. Conditional approval, according to China’s health products regulator, the National Medical Products Administration, requires the company to update regulators with additional information gleaned from the vaccine’s use and further research. The Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a subsidiary of Sinopharm, developed the two-dose vaccine. Sinopharm is one of at least five Chinese companies developing a vaccine against the coronavirus.
People wearing face masks walk along a street in Beijing on December 31. AFP
Chinese health regulators said on Thursday that they have given conditional approval to a coronavirus vaccine developed by state-owned Sinopharm.
The two-dose vaccine is the first approved for general use in China. The go-ahead comes as the country has begun to vaccinate 50 million people before the Lunar New Year holiday in February. Conditional approval means that research is still ongoing, the company will be required to submit follow-up data as well as reports of any adverse effects after the vaccine is sold on the market, Chen Shifei, the deputy commissioner of the National Medical Products Administration, told a news conference.