UAE Reports Chinese Vaccine Has 86% Efficacy, No Serious Safety Issues
China hopes to use its COVID vaccine in a number of countries to restore its image. Iran complains that U.S. sanctions hamper its ability to get vaccines.
With an 86% efficacy rate, the vaccine would almost meet the high bar set by Western front-runners, but those companies have disclosed more detail. Its part of President Xi Jinpings promise to make any Chinese shot a global public good as part of the effort to rehabilitate the Asian countrys image after the pandemic emerged from its city of Wuhan. (12/9)
Morocco is gearing up for an ambitious COVID-19 vaccination program, aiming to vaccinate 80% of its adults in an operation starting this month thats relying initially on a Chinese vaccine that has not yet completed advanced trials to prove it is safe and effective. On Tuesday, King Mohammed VI instructed the government to make the vaccine free, according to a Royal Palace statement. (El Barakah, 12/8)
In other vaccine developments around the globe
Israel received its first shipment of Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine Wednesday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in front of the just-landed DHL plane, pledging to be the first inoculated as soon as the drug is approved by American regulators. The initial shipment from Brussels included thousands of doses of the vaccine expected to get a final greenlight from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in coming days. Up to 4 million doses are expected in Israel by the end of the month, according to media reports. (Hendrix and Rubin, 12/9)
Indias Health Ministry has announced that some COVID-19 vaccines are likely to receive licenses in the next few weeks and outlined an initial plan to immunize 300 million people. Health officials said Tuesday that three vaccine companies have applied for early approval for emergency use in India: Serum Institute of India, which has been licensed to manufacture the AstraZeneca vaccine, Pfizer Inc., and Indian manufacturer Bharat Biotech. (Ghosal, 12/9)
Irans President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that U.S. sanctions are making it difficult for Iran to purchase medicine and health supplies from abroad, including COVID-19 vaccines needed to contain the worst outbreak in the Middle East. President Donald Trumps administration has imposed crippling sanctions on Irans banking sector and its vital oil and gas industry since unilaterally withdrawing the U.S. from Irans nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. (12/9)
