Sinopharm receives first COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac, conditional approval from China national regulators.

China’s health authorities have given conditional approval for a COVID-19 vaccine from state-owned Sinopharm for general use on the population, the government has announced. The vaccine, developed by an affiliate of state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm, Beijing Biological Products Institute, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG), is based on the using killed or inactivated viral particles. The vaccine was said to be 79.34% effective in preventing people from developing the disease based on interim data. The approval, announced by the National Medical Products Administration, comes after the United Arab Emirates this month became the first country to roll out the vaccine to the public, and as Pakistan announced a 1.2 million dose purchase from Sinopharm. China launched an emergency use programme in July aimed at essential workers and others at high risk of infection, and had administered more than 4.5 million doses as of 15th December, using at least three different products - two developed by CNBG and one by Sinovac Biotech, pointing to progress China has made in the global efforts to develop effective COVID-19 vaccines.