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A consignment of 50,000 doses of a China-manufactured COVID-19 vaccine has reached Seychelles today through the courtesy of the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Ministry of Health has welcome the donation as a great gesture of friendship and solidarity prevailing between the two nations.
SINOPHARM, the manufacturer of the vaccine is an internationally renowned company and the COVID-19 vaccine they produce has a significant degree of efficacy.
The Public Health Authority National Immunization Technical Advisory Groups (NITAGs) has said, that Seychelles is working on the policy as well as the technical and administrative details for vaccine roll out.
“As a policy, all medicines and vaccines that we administer in Seychelles must first receive pre-qualification from the World Health Organization,” said the Public Health Commissioner, Dr Jude Gedeon.
In the case of a pandemic like COVID-19, the Ministry of Health confirms that the green-light to roll out the vaccine can also come from reputable international organizations such as the Food and Drug Administration of the United States, the Centres for Disease Control of the United States, the China Centre for Disease Control and the European Medicines Agency.
The UAE offered the vaccines to Seychelles during the recent visit of the head of state of Seychelles, President Wavel Ramkalawan, to that country. Other benefactors have made similar offers, including the donation of 100,000 doses of the Moderna vaccine.
