China approves its first coronavirus vaccine

• Vaccine results based on data from trials conducted in UAE
• UAE, Bahrain approved Chinese vaccine early this month
• Pakistan also buying Sinopharm vaccine

China approved its first home-made coronavirus vaccine for general public use on Thursday as it braces for greater transmission risks over the winter, Global Times reported. 

The vaccine is developed by Beijing Biological Products Institute under a subsidiary, China National Biotec Group (CNBG) of state-backed pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm. China's National Medical Products Administration officially authorised the vaccine on Wednesday, the body's deputy head Che Shifei said on Thursday. 

The institute had announced that the vaccine showed 79.34% efficacy and 99.52% antibody positive conversion rate, according to interim results of Phase II clinical trials. 

Read more: Pakistan to purchase 1.2m doses from China's Sinopharm

According to Global Times, all data and process are reviewed professional third-party committees. CNBG's chairperson Yang Xiaoming was inoculated with a CNBG vaccine in March with hundreds of his colleagues. The antibodies test after six months was good. 

The chairperson said reported side effects of the vaccines are also milder than expected. These include aches or redness at the injection site, fever, muscular soreness, sickness and headache.

The interim results are mainly based on data from trials conducted in the United Arab Emirates, a Sinopharm representative told Global Times. 

The vaccine was approved in the UAE and Bahrain earlier this month, and today Pakistan also announced it would purchase 1.2 million doses. 

"Sinopharm's two inactivated vaccines have been administered to nearly 1 million people for emergency use and no serious adverse reactions have been reported. About 70,000 volunteers have participated in the phase-III clinical trials in more than 10 countries," wrote the publication.