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Pakistan gears up for China’s “ZF-2001 vaccine”

By Yasir Habib Khan | Gwadar Pro Nov 8, 2021

ISLAMABAD, Nov 7 (Gwadar Pro)-China's "ZF-2001" Covid-19 vaccine is all set to join Pakistan’s mega vaccination campaign to inoculate millions of unvaccinated people in all four provinces of the country.

It will become the fourth Chinese vaccine to be used as emergency use of authorization soon. Already, Pakistan is the beneficiary of three brands of Chinese vaccines including Sinopharm, CanSino, Sinovac which are being used widely under emergency use of authorization.

Development came after ZF-2001 has successfully gone through last-stage human trials that continued in University of Health Sciences (UHS), Avicenna Medical College and Hospital, Central Park Medical College and Hospital, National Defence Hospital Lahore, Aziz Fatima Hospital Faisalabad, PIMS Islamabad, Indus Hospital, Karachi as well as Aga Khan University Hospital Karachi since March 11 of the current year.

Around 11000 participants of different age groups of various sections of society were recruited and were administered three doses of ZF-2001 vaccine with prescribed intervals.

“ZF-2001 has scientific credential to work as the most-effective vaccine. It also has a tendency to meet the demand of booster shots because it is a three-dose jab instead of a single or two-dose jab, revealed by Dr Shehnoor Azhar, ZF-2001 vaccine human trial spokesperson in UHS, told Gwadar Pro.

“After ZF-2001’s interim results will be submitted to Drug Regulatory Authority Pakistan (DRAP) and it will get official approval to inoculate people under emergency use authorization, ZF-2001 will be a positive addition in the vaccine program,” he added.

Till date, Pakistan has administered total doses to around 110800576 people according to National Command and Operation Center which is nerve centre to synergize and articulate unified national effort against COVID-19, and to implement the decisions of National Coordination Committee on COVID-19. Among them, 43894554 people have been fully vaccinated so far on November 06.

As per feedback received by the University of Health Sciences (UHS), trial participants have shown stable health status throughout the period of the 3rd phase trial. In their scheduled observations, they shared their wellness in perpetuity. Their feedback chart-flows feature an outlook that is free from indication of symptoms of illness and particular sort of allergy or uneasiness after getting administered all three doses of the ZF-2001 vaccine.

The trial's launch came into effect after the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) approved ZF-2001's last-stage trials better known as Phase III Clinical Trials to pave the way for emergency use authentication shortly.

ZF-2001 is the second Chinese vaccine of which the last-stage human trials have been conducted. On January 26, Pakistan completed the last stage trial of China’s CanSino Biologics Inc's (CanSinoBIO), a single-shot vaccine with 18000 volunteers.

The ZF-2001 Chinese vaccine has been co-developed by Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co. Ltd., and the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Anhui Biopharmaceutical, a company with its presence in the biological product industry since 2002, had officially presented its proposal to the Pakistani Embassy in Beijing asking for the third-phase trial to join healthy competition among foreign firms which won emergency use authentication in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention that ZF-2001 is a three-shot vaccine. CanSino is a single-shot vaccine and Sinopharm is a two-shot vaccine.

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