SAHPRA Weighs in on Sputnik-V & Sinopharm Vaccines

By: Staff Writer

The South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) says it will not be pressured to allow the public access to any product that has not met the necessary regulatory requirements.

SAHPRA’s comment follows news that the EFF is preparing to march to the regulator’s office in Pretoria on Friday.

The party is demanding the use of Russia’s Sputnik-V and China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccines by South Africa.

SAHPRA CEO, Dr Boitumelo Semete-Makokotlela, says the evaluation of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, produced by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech, is at an advanced stage.

She adds that the Sputnik V application is a rolling review.

The EFF’s criticism followed the US food and drug administration’s announcement that some Johnson & Johnson vaccine doses had to be destroyed following contamination at a manufacturing plant in the US.

The party says this is causing delays in vaccination programmes in South Africa.