The World Health Organization said on Monday it believes that Chinese coronavirus vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac, distributed internationally via COVAX sharing mechanism, were effective enough against the disease, commenting on reports about the death of a Thai nurse who completed the immunization course with Sinovac
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2021) The World Health Organization said on Monday it believes that Chinese coronavirus vaccines Sinopharm and Sinovac, distributed internationally via COVAX sharing mechanism, were effective enough against the disease, commenting on reports about the death of a Thai nurse who completed the immunization course with Sinovac.
On Sunday, Thiravat Hemachudha, a professor in the department of medicine at Thailand's Chulalongkorn University, shared on Facebook the story of the Sinovac-vaccinated nurse, 30, who was infected with the coronavirus while working at the intensive care unit. The virus caused prompt complications and led to the fatality five days after the diagnosis. Cases of post-vaccination infections have previously been identified, but they were mild and non-fatal, the professor stated.
"At any point, if we have concerns with the efficacy of these vaccines, we would definitely make that known. So, at this point, I think we are confident," WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan told a press briefing.
Over a week ago, Hemachudha handed over to the Thai Health Ministry his study, according to which Sinovac provided insufficient protection against the Delta coronavirus strain. In this regard, he suggested giving the frontline health workers, who were fully vaccinated with Sinovac, a dose of either AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccines to boost immunity against Delta variant.
The WHO approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use on May 7, and Sinovac on June 1.
