Corona … Pfizer asks for full approval of its vaccine, and global health approves the first Chinese vaccine

Pfizer” and its German partner “BioNTech” submitted a request for full approval from the US government for their Covid-19 vaccine, while the World Health Organization granted – Friday – emergency approval for the “sinopharm” vaccine. ) To be the first Chinese vaccine approved by the international organization.

Pfizer and Biontech are targeting 4 billion doses of the vaccine next year, most of them for low and middle income countries. Read also Al-Jazeera Camera monitors the development stages of a new anti-Coronavirus vaccine The New York Times: What does it take to get the Corona vaccine to the world?Corona … more than 20 million infections in India and the “Pfizer” vaccine for children soon

And full approval of the vaccine – which the US Food and Drug Administration has approved for emergency use – can help reduce the hesitation in its use in the United States and other rich countries.

Pfizer and Biontech said the Food and Drug Administration will set a date for a decision once the application is formally accepted for consideration.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) granted – yesterday, Friday – emergency approval for the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against the Coronavirus, according to what the WHO Director-General announced.

The WHO Vaccine Experts Committee recommended this vaccine, which is the first Chinese vaccine to receive the green light from the organization, for people aged 18 years and over.

The World Health Organization has previously licensed the emergency use of the vaccines “Pfizer-Biontech”, “Moderna”, “Johnson & Johnson” and “Oxford-Astra Zeneca”, which are produced in facilities in India and Korea. Southern.

WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said – in a press conference – “The World Health Organization has granted a license to emergency use of the Sinopharm vaccine produced by Beijing, which makes it the sixth vaccine approved by the organization for safety, efficacy and quality.”

This is a modal window.

We are having an unexpected problem, check and try again shortly

Error code: MEDIA_ERR_UNKNOWN Session ID: 2021-05-08: acf5b0277d409145669d2711 Player Item ID: vjs_video_997

The World Health Organization’s approval for emergency use paves the way for vaccines to obtain speedy approvals for import and distribution from countries around the world, especially those that do not have their own regulatory bodies with international standards.

It also allows the vaccine to join the global initiative “Covax” to ensure a fair distribution of vaccines between countries, especially the poor ones.

The Sinopharm vaccine is currently used in 42 countries, and it ranks fourth after AstraZeneca (used in 166 countries), Pfizer (in 94) and Moderna (in 46), according to an AFP census.

Besides China, Sinopharm is used in Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Hungary, Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Peru, UAE, Serbia, Seychelles and other countries.

There is another group of vaccines awaiting licenses from the organization for emergency use, including a second Chinese vaccine produced by Sinopharma in Wuhan, the city where the Corona virus first appeared.

It is also expected that a decision will be made within days regarding the Chinese vaccine, “Sinovac”, which is used in 22 countries.

The Russian “Sputnik V” vaccine is still on the waiting list.

Children’s vaccine

Yesterday, the World Health Organization urged governments around the world to refrain from vaccinating children against the Coronavirus before vaccinating the elderly and people most at risk of infection.

The WHO’s call comes after Canada allowed the Pfizer vaccine to be given to children, in a step that other rich countries are expected to follow.

Last Wednesday, Canada authorized the use of the Fayez vaccine for children from 12 years and over, becoming the first country to take this step.

The Canadian chief medical advisor, Supria Sharma, said – in a press conference – that Britain and the European Union are expected to follow the same path soon, after reviewing the same tests results provided by the manufacturer.

The United States is also set to legalize the Pfizer-Biontech vaccine for children between the ages of 12 and 15 at the beginning of next week, according to media reports.

While such decisions would pave the way for millions of other people to receive the vaccine in rich countries, they reinforce WHO’s concerns about vaccine supply shortages in Africa and elsewhere.