It has already been administered to hundreds of millions of people.
The World Health Organization (WHO) granted emergency approval for the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical group Sinopharm in Beijing on Friday, May 7, announced WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus .
This is the organization's first authorization for an anti-Covid-19 vaccine not from a Western laboratory.
It is also the first time that the WHO has given its emergency authorization to a Chinese vaccine, regardless of the disease concerned.
The WHO vaccine expert committee has recommended two doses of this vaccine for people 18 years of age and older.
This vaccine is one of China's two main vaccines, which together have already been given to hundreds of millions of people, not only in China but also in other countries.
Discussions for the approval of a second Chinese vaccine, Sinovac, are underway.
A second Sinopharm vaccine made in Wuhan - the epicenter of the pandemic - has also applied for WHO approval.
The organization has already licensed Moderna's vaccine, Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine, the two AstraZeneca sera made in India and South Korea - because WHO counts this as two approvals even though the product is identical - and Johnson's & Johnson, called Janssen.
This procedure helps countries that do not have the means to determine the efficacy and safety of a drug on their own to gain faster access to therapies.
This will allow this product to be integrated into the Covax system, set up by the WHO with partners to distribute vaccines against Covid-19 in particular in underprivileged nations.
>> Covid-19: behind the sale and donation of vaccines to Africa, China's "struggle for influence"
With AFP & Reuters
The summary of the week
France 24 invites you to come back to the news that marked the week
I subscribe
Take international news everywhere with you!
Download the France 24 application
google-play-badge_FR