Based on messenger RNA and with an efficacy of 94.1 percent, the injectable was thus linked to the AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the WHO lists for application.

In this way, the statement explains, countries are allowed to accelerate their own regulatory approval to import and administer the immunogens.

The WHO said similar approvals for the vaccines will also arrive from Chinese laboratories Sinopharm and Sinovac in the coming days and weeks.

Reviewed by WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE), the vaccine is recommended for people over 18 years of age.

Although provided as a frozen suspension at minus 25 to 15 degrees Celsius in a multidose bulb, the vials can be stored refrigerated at two to eight degrees Celsius for up to 30 days prior to applying the first dose.

This means that ‘cold chain equipment may not always be needed to implement the vaccine,’ the developers explain.

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