Lahore, 31st December: Pakistan is all set to buy Sinopharm vaccine for COVID-19 from China.
Baaghi TV: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry announced earlier today that Pakistan will be purchasing 1.2 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine from China’s Sinopharm early next year.
According to earlier reports by Baaghi TV, Pakistan has been conducting phase III trials of another Chinese vaccine developed by another Chinese firm Can Sino Biologics, since late September.
According to the BBC, Sinopharm, a state-run Chinese firm, is developing two COVID-19 vaccines. It is yet unclear which one has been approved by Pakistan.
The Chinese jab works by administering an inactive virus to the body to trigger an immune response, unlike vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna, which inject the genetic code of the coronavirus into the human body to trigger the immune system.
As per reports, the vaccines are not being trialled in China because the domestic prevalence of the virus is low.
According to the news report published in BBC, Sinopharm announced on December 30 that phase three trials of the vaccine showed that it was 79% effective, which means it is less effective than Pfizer and Moderna.
Pfizer and Moderna have 95% efficacy, while AstraZeneca’s 70% efficacy in full trials increased to 90%.
As per reports gathered, Sinopharm’s vaccines have been undergoing clinical trials in 10 countries, including Argentina and Morocco.
So far, the UAE, Bahrain, and now Pakistan have granted emergency use of the vaccine for frontline workers.
As per reports from Geo News, some scientists have shown concern about the rush to approve a vaccine without it completing phase IV, the last stage of the trials.
Phase IV trials are when the drug’s performance is checked in real-life scenarios to monitor any side effects.
On the other hand, many health experts praise China’s vaccine capabilities.
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