BY MAVIS N PODOKOLO
TWENTY thousand Sinopharm covid-19 vaccine is set to arrive in the country early April once approved by World Health Organisation.
This was confirmed by Minister for Health and Medical Services Dr Culwick Togamana.
Mr Togamana said this vaccine will be shipped from the People’s Republic of China.
“We are also anticipating another 20,000 does of Sinopharm covid-19 vaccine early next month from the People’s Republic of China. Once approved by World Health Organisation, we will also roll out the Sinopharm vaccine. So, thank you China,” he said.
Togamana said they are also anticipating a significant amount of financial support from the Australia and New Zealand governments for the procurement of more covid-19 vaccines, with discussions on this underway.
“Thus, I extend sincere thank you to Australia and New Zealand,” he said.
Togamana adds, the Solomon Islands Government is also taking proactive actions in its efforts to secure more vaccines for the population.
“Last week we have also finalised our request to the government of India for 600 thousand more AstraZeneca vaccines for our people.
“This is important to fulfil the government’s desire to get all of its eligible population vaccinated,” he said.
China has two covid-19 vaccines; the Coronavac and Sinopharm. The Coronavac is produced by the Beijing-based Sinovac company. It has an efficacy rate of 60 percent. The second vaccine is called BBIBP-CorV, which was trialled by the state-owned company, Sinopharm. BBIBP-CorV is commonly referred to simply as Sinopharm. The Sinopharm has an efficacy rate of 79 percent.
