Jubilee Post News & Views
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With a 79% efficacy against covid, Chinese authorities have given conditional approval for general public use of a vaccine developed by state-owned drug maker Sinopharm.
The 79% efficacy rate was claimed in phase three trials. Several Chinese-made vaccines at a late trial stage are already in use after being granted emergency licences in China where the pandemic emerged in the central city of Wuhan an year before. It has since spread around the world and killed lakhs of people.
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But China managed to bring infection rate down to very low levels. The search for the source of the coronavirus has led to tensions with the West. The US – among a number of other countries – raised questions about whether China was fully transparent when the virus first emerged there.
Thursday’s announcement concerning the vaccine made by the China National Pharmaceutical Group, or Sinopharm, is China’s first general approval of a homemade jab – and it is being seen as potentially a major step towards inoculating the world’s largest population.
The deputy commissioner of China’s National Medical Products Administration, Chen Shifei, announced the decision at a news conference in Beijing.
After a series of strict reviews, verification, test and data analysis in accordance with the law and procedures, it is concluded that the known and potential benefits of Sinopharm’s new inactivated coronavirus vaccine are bigger than the known and potential risks, and it fully meets the pre-set requirements of conditional marketing standards, he said.
Zeng Yixin vice minister of the National Health Commission said approval would allow the government to extend vaccination to high-risk groups, or those susceptible to a severe viral infection apart from the elderly.
