— company currently developing Omicron-targetting booster

By Samuel Sukhnandan in Beijing
CHINESE pharmaceutical giant, Sinopharm International, has delivered over 1.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far to several countries in the Caribbean region, including Guyana.

This was revealed by the company’s Chief Engineer, Fu Qiang, on Wednesday, during an engagement with the foreign press titled, “Zooming in on the World’s Largest COVID-19 Manufacture Site.”

Qiang, who holds responsibility for the Caribbean, said Sinopharm has received positive feedback from many of the recipient countries, which praised the vaccines for helping to save thousands of lives.

“Guyana is the first country in the Caribbean to have received a donation of COVID-19 vaccine from China… 20,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine were delivered to that country in 2021,” he said.

Other countries that benefitted from similar donations included Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago. Aside from that, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago also purchased additional Sinopharm vaccines to assist in their countries’ COVID-19 immunisation campaigns.

“Our company, through the Government of the People’s Republic of China, has also delivered other medical supplies to these countries, including masks and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), not forgetting additional medicines,” Qiang said.

The chief engineer for the COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing facility said Sinopharm will continue to work with the region, through the Chinese Government, to implement relevant anti-pandemic cooperation measures and provide vaccines and anti-pandemic supplies to Caribbean countries.

OMICRON BOOSTER 
Since its establishment, Sinopharm has made a series of significant achievements in diagnosable, treatable and preventable medicine. It is the only enterprise in the world that has independently developed four COVID-19 vaccines via three technical platforms, two inactivated vaccines, one genetic recombinant vaccine and one mRNA vaccine.

The company’s Biological Products Division President, Zhu Jingjin, noted that overall, 3.5 billion doses of the company’s vaccines have been supplied to 59 countries and international organisations across the world, through China’s foreign aid vaccine supply mechanism and cooperation agreements.

Jingjin told the forum that the Sinopharm vaccines were also recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO), received European Union (EU) independent certification, and were approved for use in over 119 countries.

“For the Omicron variant, Sinopharm is also deepening its scientific and technological fight against the epidemic: the inactivated vaccine and the second-generation recombinant protein new chrome vaccine of Oncorhynchus strain have received clinical approval, and the mRNA vaccine of Oncorhynchus strain has been submitted for clinical application,” he said.

The company’s Biological Products Division President also mentioned that Sinopharm has the world’s most extensive high-grade biosafety production base with an annual capacity of five billion doses, and is the leading force in China’s bio-pharmaceutical industry.

“It has always been the traditional culture of Chinese people to help each other in the same boat and it is China’s commitment to the world to work together to overcome the epidemic…. Sinopharm will continue to promote the research and development of vaccines make every effort to ensure production and supply, deepen international cooperation and make new contributions to making vaccines a global public product and building a community of human health.”

MONKEYPOX
Meanwhile, as for the monkeypox virus epidemic, which has become a common concern in most countries, Jingjin said Sinopharm’s test kits have already received EU certification and the company is now prepared to look at producing more products to assist in the fight to control the sudden outbreak of this viral disease.

“In order to prevent the further spread of the epidemic, we insist on research and development without stopping the epidemic and are committed to providing Chinese technology, Chinese manufacturing, and Chinese solutions,” he remarked.

Sinopharm has ranked 80th in the Fortune 500 list of companies announced a month ago and jumped to first place among global pharmaceutical companies. The company considers itself the most comprehensive bio-pharmaceutical enterprise with the widest products in Asia.

It currently has six research and development centres and seven technical platforms built, three high-grade biosafety laboratories, and six high-grade biosafety production workshops. Sinopharm is also the leading force in China’s bio-pharmaceutical industry.

(NCN Editor, Samuel Sukhnandan is currently in Beijing on a China International Press Communication Centre (CIPCC) 2022 Fellowship at the invitation of the China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA)