MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina closer to producing Sinopharm vaccine locally

Sinopharm has been approved for use and marketing in 112 countries and territories worldwide.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández and directors of the Chinese laboratory which produces the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine met Friday in Berlin in another stop of the head of state's tour.

According to the ongoing negotiations with the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, Argentina would be ready to deliver up to one million of doses per week.

During the meeting Fernández also thanked the institute for its prompt assistance at the beginning of the pandemic so that the country could develop a vaccination strategy.

Argentina has bought over 30 million doses from Sinopharm “when there was a shortage of vaccines,” presidential sources told reporters. The sources quoted by Télam added that Argentina and China “are in negotiations to start local production of the Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 that will be produced by the Sinergium Biotech laboratory with a capacity to offer up to one million doses per week.”

Sinopharm and Argentina's NGO Fundación Huésped “jointly carried out Phase III trials of the vaccine that allowed it to be authorized by the National Administration of Medicines quickly.”

The Institute of Biological Products owns six inactivated virus vaccine production plants throughout China and has filling and packaging plants in the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, and Morocco. Negotiations are also under way for similar undertakings in Bangladesh, Hungary, Vietnam, Burma, and Uganda.

The Chinese laboratory has an annual production capacity of 7,000 million doses. Sinopharm has been approved for use and marketing in 112 countries and territories worldwide.

President Alberto Fernández arrived in China Thursday from Moscow. He attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and was awarded a Professor Honoris Causa degree by the Tsinghua University. On Sunday he is due to hold a personal meeting with President Xi Jinping.

Before returning to Argentina, the head of state os to stop at Barbados for an encounter with Prime Minister Mia Mottley Tuesday, followed by a meeting with representatives of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).