Sinopharm Covid-19 Vaccine: What you need to know

By Mashudu Netsianda

Zimbabwe yesterday received 200 000 doses of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) vaccine donated by the Chinese government to fight Covid-19.

Government has said many more doses beyond this first batch will be necessary to achieve herd immunity in Zimbabwe as 60 percent of the population would need to be vaccinated.

Below is some information on the drug received yesterday.

1) Who manufactured the vaccine?

Chinese State-owned enterprise Sinopharm developed China’s first approved Covid-19 vaccine which is based on an inactivated virus.

Sinopharm developed it in collaboration with the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Institute of Biological Products.

2) Has the vaccine been used elsewhere?

By the end of last year, nearly 100 million doses had been produced and production is expected to reach one billion doses this year.

The Sinopharm vaccine is approved in China for general public use and is also used in several other countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

According to Sinopharm website, more than 50 countries have expressed willingness to procure the vaccine.

According to the China’s foreign ministry, plans are underway for that country to provide 10 million vaccine doses to COVAX, a World Health Organisation-backed global vaccine-sharing initiative.

Sinopharm has previously said its Covid-19 vaccine has shown comprehensive strength with its outstanding performance in safety, high efficacy rate, cold-chain temperature friendly to most countries and a large capacity ready for massive injection.

3) What have other countries said about the vaccine’s effectiveness?

According to Reuters quoting UAE’s health ministry, the Sinopharm vaccine has proven to be 86 percent effective in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease. Its success paves the way for mass inoculations and a re-opening of its economy.

The UAE had also granted emergency use approval for the Sinopharm vaccine back in September for health care workers deemed most at risk of infection.

4) Have any African countries used and reviewed the drug?

Early this year, Egypt started vaccinating medical staff at public hospitals, armed forces and police with the Chinese vaccine and its health minister said clinical trials had proved it’s safe and effective. Morrocco has also administered the drug with no problems. The Chronicle