Lahore firm seeks emergency use permission for Sinovac vaccine

By Muhammad JuniadPublished On 05 Jan 2023

ISLAMABAD: An application has been filed in the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan seeking emergency use permission for the CoronaVac vaccine.

A medical equipment import and export firm of Lahore has submitted the application for the Coronavac vaccine registration, prepared by the Sinovac Life Sciences of China.

The company has also submitted the data of clinical trials of the vaccine to the DRAP. DRAP registration board is expected to approve the vaccine in the ongoing month.

CoronaVac, inactivated vaccine, comprises two doses and stored at minus-two to eight degree Celsius temperature, health ministry.

China had allowed the emergency use of the CoronaVac in July 2020. Phase-I and Phase-II clinical trials of the vaccine were held in China, while phase-iii trials were conducted in countries in Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

Phase-III trials of the CoronaVac vaccine were held in Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The vaccine found 83.5 percent effective in Turkey, while in Indonesia the effectivity was 65.3 pct.

It is to be mentioned here that scores of countries including Mexico, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Thailand have approved CoronaVac for use.

Indonesia has imported the first consignment of the vaccine in December 2020. Sinovac has exported 70 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine to various countries in the current month.

The Sinovac has a productive capacity to manufacture two billion doses of its vaccine every year.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has approved four vaccines for use in the country so far, including China’s Sinopharm and Cansino, Russia’s Sputnik V, and Oxford University’s AstraZeneca.