UAE, China launch project to produce Sinopharm vaccine

DUBAI - The United Arab Emirates and China on Sunday announced a venture to produce the Sinopharm coronavirus vaccine in the Gulf nation, state media reported.

The UAE's Group 42 and China's CNBG "have launched a joint project... to initiate the first Covid-19 vaccine production line in the UAE", said official Emirati news agency Wam.

It did not specify when commercial production will begin. 

The UAE's foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, said the project adds "value to the international efforts being made in the face of the Covid-19 crisis, which has been taking a toll on everyday lives across the world."

The UAE, made up of seven emirates including the capital Abu Dhabi and freewheeling Dubai, began mass inoculations in December after approving vaccines made by Chinese firm Sinopharm and US drugmaker Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech. 

Since then, the UAE -- which has a population of nearly 10 million people -- has also approved Astrazeneca, with one of the best vaccination rates per capita in the world, second to Israel.

The UAE has so far recorded more than 388,000 cases and 1,481 deaths from Covid-19 since the pandemic began.

Two vaccines have undergone third-phase trials in the UAE: Sinopharm and Russia's Sputnik-V, named after the Soviet-era satellite.

Agence France-Presse

Indonesia orders 20 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for private inoculations

JAKARTA - Indonesia expects to receive 20.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines developed by Moderna Inc and China's Sinopharm from the second quarter to use in a private vaccination scheme, the head of a state pharmaceutical firm said on Monday.

Indonesia authorized one of the world's first private vaccination programs last month to run alongside its national drive, enabling firms to buy state-procured vaccines for their staff in Southeast Asia's biggest country.

While the plan is expected to speed up the pace of inoculation in the world's fourth most populous country, some health experts have warned it could worsen inequity.

Honesti Basyir, CEO of Bio Farma, told a parliamentary hearing on Monday that it had ordered 15 million doses from China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and 5.2 million from Moderna.

The Sinopharm vaccine could arrive by the end of the second quarter, and the Moderna shot in the third quarter, he said.

Indonesia aims to inoculate 181.5 million people within a year in an effort to reach herd immunity in a vaccination drive that began in January.

The country has suffered one of Asia's worst coronavirus epidemics, with more than 1.4 million cases and over 38,000 deaths so far.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry had pushed the government to authorize the private inoculation drive.

More than 11,500 companies have signed up for the plan, which would see some 7.4 million people vaccinated, Rosan P. Roeslani, head of the business group, told the same hearing on Monday.

The program would allow employees of participating companies, plus their family members, to receive free vaccinations at privately-run health centers with shots distributed by Bio Farma.

Indonesia's food and drug agency is currently reviewing the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use approval, its chief Penny K. Lukito told the hearing.

The agency has made no mention of the approval status of the Moderna vaccine.

-reuters-