WHO Validates Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

The World Health Organization (WHO) validated on Friday the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China's Sinopharm for emergency use.

"This afternoon, the WHO gave emergency use listing to Sinopharm Beijing's COVID-19 vaccine, making it the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality," WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a press briefing.

Ghebreyesus added that this expands the list of vaccines which COVAX can buy and “gives countries confidence to expedite their own regulatory approval, and to import and administer a vaccine.”

"This ... signifies that the quality, safety, efficacy and accessibility of Sinopharm CNBG's COVID-19 vaccine meet the requirements of WHO standards, which will contribute more Chinese power to the global fight against the COVID-19 pandemic," Sinopharm said in a social media statement published on Saturday.

This move would bolster Beijing's push for a bigger role in inoculating the world.

In an official press release, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Health Products Dr. Mariangela Simao said that the addition of the Sinopharm vaccine has "the potential to rapidly accelerate COVID-19 vaccine access for countries seeking to protect health workers and populations at risk."

Notably, the WHO had already given such approval to vaccines developed by BioNTech-Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson and Moderna.