South African regulator approves Sinopharm COVID vaccine
South Africa’s health regulator said on Monday it had approved a COVID-19 vaccine from China’s Sinopharm.
The country worst-hit by the pandemic in Africa in terms of reported COVID-19 infections and deaths, has used the Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) shots in its vaccination campaign.
The government delayed some vaccine deliveries late last year because of oversupply as hesitancy slowed the uptake.
Drugs regulator SAHPRA said in a statement the Sinopharm approval was based on “acceptable safety, quality and efficacy data submitted by MC Pharma,” referring to a local regulatory pharmaceutical company that has partnered with Sinopharm.
