BIBP’s COVID-19 Vaccine Approved for Emergency Use in Iraq, Pakistan and Morocco!

Approved for Emergency Use in Iraq
      The Iraqi National Regulatory Authority has approved the Inactivated COVID-19 Vaccine (Vero Cell) developed by Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd. (BIBP), China National Biotec Group Company Limited (CNBG), Sinopharm (“BIBP’s COVID-19 Vaccine”) for emergency use, as reported by Iraqi media on January 19.
Seif al-Badr, spokesman of the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Iraq, told the reporter from Xinhua News Agency that Iraq approved BIBP’s COVID-19 Vaccine for emergency use in Iraq in that the product met the scientific criteria set by the Iraqi National Board for Selection of Drugs (NBSD).
      According to the MOH of Iraq on January 19, Iraq reported 823 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the cumulative total of confirmed cases to 609,852; 9 new deaths, bringing the cumulative total of deaths to 12,962; and a total of 573,011 cured cases.
      Approved for Emergency Use in Pakistan
      Islamabad, January 20 (Xinhua News Agency) - Recently, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) granted the emergency use authorization (EUA) to BIBP’s COVID-19 vaccine. It is the second COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use in Pakistan. 
      According to a statement published on its official website, DRAP granted EUA to BIBP’s COVID-19 vaccine at a meeting of registration authority committee held on January 18.
      According to the official website of the Ministry of Health of Pakistan, as of 8:00 a.m. on January 20 local time, Pakistan reported a total of 524,783 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 11,103 deaths and 478,517 cured cases. 
      Approved for Emergency Use in Morocco
      Rabat, January 23 (Xinhua News Agency) - Morocco officially approved the emergency use of BIBP’s COVID-19 Vaccine in Morocco, according to a communique issued by the Ministry of Health (MOH) of Morocco on January 22. 
The communique said that the decision was made by the National Authorization Committee under the MOH Morocco after a careful evaluation of the BIBP’s COVID-19 vaccine, and the approval would be valid for 12 months.
MOH Morocco has announced on January 22 that the nationwide vaccination would be launched next week, with priority given to the eligible population susceptible to COVID-19.
According to MOH Morocco, on January 23, Morocco reported 950 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the cumulative total of confirmed cases to 465,769, which included 441,693 cured cases and 8,128 deaths. 

On December 31, 2020, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council held a press conference, at which the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) announced that it had conditionally granted the conditional marketing approval to BIBP’s COVID-19 vaccine on December 30. In the next step, BIBP will spare no effort in the R&D, production and use of COVID-19 vaccines to provide strong support for realizing the accessibility and affordability of COVID-19 vaccines as a global public good, and contribute China’s part to the whole world.