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Data proves safety of Sinopharm vaccine for elderly people
March 12, 2021
Islamabad, Mar. 12 (INP): A spokesperson for the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) Akhtar Abbas refuted the speculation that Sinopharm vaccine was approved for aged people because it was the only available vaccine in Pakistan at this time.
While talking to Gwadar Pro here on Friday, he said the Technical committee of the authority had approved the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine for 60+ age group after data demonstrated its safety and efficacy in elderly people.
China has donated 500,000 shots of the Sinopharm vaccine to Pakistan and will also provide another 500,000 doses soon. Pakistan is fearing a third wave of the COVID-19 and China’s help in its fight against the pandemic is of vital importance.
Dr Ijaz Khan, head of infectious disease at Shifa International Hospital also seconded the statement of DRAP’s spokesperson.
He said that the evaluators compared efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine with that of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine and found that the latter had no edge over the Chinese vaccine.
Pakistani government was earlier refraining from approving Sinopharm vaccines for the elderly, but once the data was available, it gave nod for its use in aged people, he added.
Dr Khan supervised the phase-III clinical trials of Chinese CanSinoBIO’s vaccine in Pakistan at the Shifa International Hospital.
From March 10, Pakistan started inoculating its aged population with the Sinopharm jabs donated by China. Pakistan immunised the healthcare staffers in the first round with the generous help of its Iron Brother.
It will also benefit from CanSinoBIO’s vaccine on priority basis once the trials are done.
INP/javed