Sinopharm, J&J vaccines given conditional approval for emergency use

Sinopharm, J&J vaccines given conditional approval for emergency use

There are now a total of six vaccines approved for use in Malaysia.

PETALING JAYA:
The Covid-19 vaccines produced by Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson have been given conditional approval for emergency use by the health ministry’s Drug Control Authority.

The Covilo vaccine is developed by Sinopharm and manufactured in China.

Also given conditional approval is the Janssen vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson (J&J) in Belgium. Previously, the ministry had approved the J&J vaccine in the Covax facility.

In a statement, health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said this conditional approval meant that the ministry would still monitor the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccines based on the latest data from time to time.

He said this was to ensure that the vaccines’ benefits continue to outweigh the risks.

“The government is committed to ensuring the adult population of Malaysia achieves herd immunity, in line with the goals of the national Covid-19 immunisation programme (PICK),” he said.

With this latest decision, there are now six vaccines approved for use in Malaysia – namely Pfizer, Sinovac, AstraZeneca, CanSino, Johnson & Johnson and Sinopharm.

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