Wintry mix spreads across Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

Health officials in the United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday that a Chinese vaccine provides 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19 infection.

Subsequently, the UAE's Ministry of Health and Prevention officially pushed for a registration of the Sinopharm vaccine following several health agencies' analysis of late-stage trials in the country, officials said in a release on 

"The announcement is a significant vote of confidence by the UAE's health authorities in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine," the health ministry said.

The country approved the vaccine for emergency use in September for certain groups. It conducted a trial of the vaccine involving 31,000 volunteers from 125 nationalities in the UAE. The study reflected "no serious safety concerns," according to the health ministry, but no detailed data from the study was publicly available. 

It's unclear, based on this latest development however, what the UAE's next steps will be. There was no elaboration on the progression toward a potential nationwide deployment of the Sinopharm vaccine.

late-stage clinical trials in 10 countries, including  Egypt, Jordan and Argentina.

Later this month, Morocco says it plans to implement an ambitious COVID-19 immunization program using the Sinopharm vaccine. The country is aiming to vaccinate 80 percent of adults, according 

News of UAE's approval of the vaccine comes just a day after the

 U.K. launched its own nationwide immunization program

that the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer and its partner BioNTech presented "no specific safety concerns" to preclude an emergency use approval, paving the way for an expected green-light later this month.

The UAE said as of Tuesday there were 8,260 confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the country. 

Health

COVID-19

Jaclyn Diaz

Author

The Sinopharm vaccine, developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical company, has already been approved for emergency use in a few countries.

Chinese vaccine 86% effective, UAE health ministry says

Go Deeper.

Like this?

News you can use in your inbox