China’s Sinovac claims it can produce 2 billion Covid-19 vaccines annually
Beijing, Apr 2 (efe-epa).- Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac will double the production of its Covid-19 vaccines to reach 2 billion yearly doses thanks to the development of a third manufacturing plant, the company said Friday.
About 100 million doses of its vaccine, CoronaVac, have already been administered in more than 20 countries worldwide, a spokesman for the pharmaceutical company said Friday, according to state newspaper Global Times.
The vaccine carried out clinical trials outside China that left different effectiveness rates: while tests in Turkey yielded an effectiveness of 91.25 percent, data provided by Indonesia pointed to 65.3 percent and Brazil was down to 50, 4 percent, a week after announcing 78 percent.
CoronaVac uses the inactive SARS-CoV-2 virus and must be administered in two doses.
On Wednesday, World Health Organization experts said the Sinovac antigens and the Sinopharm jab demonstrate “safety and good efficacy,” and in the coming days they could confirm whether or not they authorize their emergency use.
However, countries such as Brazil, Chile or Mexico are already using the vaccine since the WHO emergency list mainly targets countries that do not have regulatory bodies for the pharmaceutical sector.
In China, authorities have authorized the marketing of four Covid-19 vaccines: two from Sinopharm and one from Cansino and one from Sinovac.
Also, a total of 16 vaccines developed in China have already started clinical trials, a government official said in January. EFE-EPA
jco/lds
