Chinese Covid vaccine awaits NDA approval
A health worker prepares to inoculate a man with a dose of the Chinese-made Sinopharm Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine . PHOTO/AFP
What you need to know:
- In February, China revealed it will be donating 300,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Uganda. Though earlier reports had indicated that the vaccine to be donated is Sinovac, Dr Driwale said the letter received did not specify the brand.
Covid-19 vaccine, which the Chinese government promised Uganda as a donation, awaits approval of the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group and National Drug Authority (NDA) for import into the country.
Dr Alfred Driwale, the programme manager Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunisation (Unepi), said the Health ministry has written to both the National Immunisation Technical Advisory Group and NDA to review documents regarding the vacccine for final advice and decision-making and registration.
“They will give us feedback. We have also written to NDA to review the dossier of the vaccine to facilitate the registration process…, the other time we were not ready because it (vaccine) was not approved,” Dr Driwale said on Saturday.
“How long the process takes is what I do not know. But we wrote this week (last week) and most likely we will wait for feedback this week,” he said
Dr Driwale added that once the review and registration process is complete, government will then engage the embassy regarding the importation process.
In February, China revealed it will be donating 300,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine to Uganda. Though earlier reports had indicated that the vaccine to be donated is Sinovac, Dr Driwale said the letter received did not specify the brand.
“They did not specify what they had donated, but donating to us a vaccine made in their country, which is available. Right now the one which we can take is Sinopharm because our protocols are that because the process of reviewing is vigorous at World Health Organisation (WHO) level, our review should follow theirs,” Dr Driwale said.
Just like most of other Covid -19 vaccines, one will require two shots of Sinopharm vaccine to fight against Covid-19.
On May 7, WHO listed the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for the vaccine to be rolled out globally. The Sinopharm vaccine is produced by Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
