Sudan Considering All COVID-19 Vaccines To Choose Most Suitable Option - Health Official

Sudan is considering all coronavirus vaccine candidates, including those by US' Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, and Russia's Sputnik V, and will choose the most effective one for its citizens, Sudan's deputy head of the Health Emergencies and Epidemic Control Directorate, Muntasir Mohammed Osman told Sputnik

KHARTOUM (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 01st December, 2020) Sudan is considering all coronavirus vaccine candidates, including those by US' Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech, and Russia's Sputnik V, and will choose the most effective one for its citizens, Sudan's deputy head of the Health Emergencies and Epidemic Control Directorate, Muntasir Mohammed Osman told Sputnik.

Osman said special committees, which have been authorized by Sudan's health minister, have studied the effectiveness of vaccines, and also considered the potential negative impact of the vaccines on those mostly affected by the disease complications.

"All vaccines that are in their final stages are being evaluated by technical committees to determine the most appropriate for the citizen," the epidemiologist said.

When asked about coronavirus vaccines, including the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and Russia's Sputnik V, the epidemiologist noted that all options are currently being studied.

"It is important to have an effective vaccine to contain the spread of the epidemic and reduce the disease cases and the death rate among Sudanese citizens," the senior health official noted, asserting that the entire world is in dire need of a powerful vaccine to curb the spread of COVID-19.

In August, Russia became the first country to register a COVID-19 vaccine, which was named Sputnik V. The clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya research institute, have demonstrated that its efficacy rate is over 90 percent.

Along with Russia's COVID-19 vaccine, the US' Pfizer and Germany's BioNTech announced in November that their vaccine had 95 percent efficacy, according to the final trial analysis. The company had already filed a request with the US food and Drug Administration and UK Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency for an emergency use authorization for BNT162b2.

As of Tuesday, Sudan's health authorities have registered 17,810 cases, with 1,249 deaths and over 10,000 recoveries since the start of the pandemic.