The World Health Organization has given its authorization for emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China’s Sinopharm.
The decision by a WHO technical advisory group opens the possibility that the Sinopharm vaccine could be included into the U.N.-backed COVAX program in coming weeks or months and distributed through UNICEF and WHO’s regional office for the Americas.
Sinopharm has publicly released little data, aside from efficacy numbers for its two vaccine shots, one developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products. The Beijing shot is one that was considered by WHO for an emergency use listing.
