Colombia approves emergency use of China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine

Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine on display. /CFP

Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Wednesday that the country's National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute has authorized the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccines developed by Chinese firm Sinovac Biotech.

The approval was made following experts' evaluation of the vaccines, Duque said during a daily television program on COVID-19.

According to the Colombian government, the country will launch a mass vaccination campaign against the COVID-19 pandemic on February 20.

The South American country has registered 2,125,622 COVID-19 infections and 54,877 deaths as of Wednesday, said the Ministry of Health and Social Protection.

The government has extended the health emergency over COVID-19 till February 28, urging people to avoid crowds and observe safety measures to curb the spread of the virus.

Sinovac's COVID-19 vaccine, which is a frontrunner in the global vaccine race, has been authorized for use in countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and Brazil.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency