WHO panel set to decide on emergency use of Chinese vaccine

A key World Health Organization panel is set to decide whether to authorize emergency of a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine

GENEVA -- A key World Health Organization panel was set to decide Friday whether to authorize emergency of a Chinese-made COVID-19 vaccine, a WHO spokesperson said, potentially paving the way for millions of doses to reach needy countries through a U.N.-backed program. The review by a technical advisory group could open the possibility of the Sinopharm vaccine being included in the U.N.-backed COVAX program in the coming weeks or months, and distributed through WHO’s regional office for the Americas and the U.N. children's agency UNICEF. WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said a decision was expected later Friday. Apart from efficacy information, Sinopharm has released very little public data about its two vaccines - one developed by its Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the other by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.