The South African health regulator on Monday approved a COVID-19 vaccine from China’s Sinopharm.
However, despite the approval, a report via a senior health official said the government was not planning to procure the doses for now.
Recall that South Africa was among the worst hit by the pandemic in Africa in terms of reported COVID-19 infections and deaths.
The country had to use vaccines like the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE), and Johnson & Johnson (J&J) (JNJ.N) shots in its vaccination campaign after signing supply deals with the two U.S. companies.
Drugs regulator SAHPRA said in a statement that the Sinopharm approval was based on “acceptable safety, quality and efficacy data submitted by MC Pharma,” referring to a local regulatory pharmaceutical company that had partnered with Sinopharm.
It said the vaccine was indicated for those aged 18 and over, subject to conditions including that it was administered in line with the national vaccination programme, and periodic safety updates were submitted.
“We are not procuring (the) vaccine as we have plenty in stock,” Nicholas Crisp, deputy director-general in the health department, told Reuters when asked whether the government was in negotiations to buy Sinopharm doses.
A Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) in May.
Clinical trial data showed it had lower efficacy against symptomatic disease than the shot developed by Pfizer.
In December 2021, the WHO recommended that people who had received inactivated COVID-19 vaccine-like ones made by Sinopharm, another Chinese manufacturer, Sinovac Biotech (SVA.O) and India’s Bharat Biotech, should receive a booster dose to protect against waning immunity.
Inactivated vaccines take the SARS-CoV-2 virus and inactivate or kill it using chemicals, heat or radiation.
So far, South Africa has fully vaccinated about 42 per cent of its adult population of roughly 40 million.