A nurse holds a syringe containing a coronavirus vaccine (COVID-19) made by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, a unit of Sinopharm subsidiary China National Biotec Group (CNBG), at a vaccination center during a government-organized visit in Beijing. , China, April 15, 2021. REUTERS / Thomas Peter
The World Health Organization will decide on emergency lists for COVID-19 vaccines from Sinopharm (1099.HK) and Sinovac (SVA.O) at the end of this month or in May after an extensive review, a WHO European region official said Thursday. .
“We are in contact with them to review the files submitted by both vaccine manufacturers,” WHO Europe vaccination expert Siddhartha Datta told a virtual press conference. “We will hear about a decision on the emergency use list in April or early May, so stay tuned.”
A WHO panel in the final phase of the review of the Chinese vaccines has said that a decision could be reached on at least one vaccine on April 26, while a second meeting is scheduled for May 3 if more time is needed to make a decision about both injections. .
Such a WHO emergency list is a prerequisite for purchase by the COVAX vaccine sharing facility designed to get injections to poorer countries. It also helps to guide countries with less developed regulatory systems about the safety and efficacy of a vaccine.
So far, WHO has issued emergency lists for the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech (22UAy.DE), as well as versions of AstraZeneca’s (AZN.L) vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India and the AstraZeneca-SKBio in South -Korea.
CanSino’s vaccine relies on a viral vector to deliver DNA to elicit an immune response, a technique similar to that used in both AstraZeneca’s and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) vaccines which are now being investigated for their association with very rare blood clots in combination with a low platelet count. counts.
CanSino has said there have been no reports of blood clots. read more
Sinovac’s vaccine, which is used in Hong Kong and Brazil, among others, is based on inactivated coronaviruses to induce an immune response, a technique that has been used for decades, including against polio. read more
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