Abu Dhabi will start manufacturing Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine

An expansion of Chinese diplomacy in the Gulf region, the new plant, which is being built in the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), will have a production capacity of 200 million doses a year.

The vaccine will be called Hayat-Vax when manufactured in the UAE, and the first COVID-19 vaccine to be produced in the Arab world.

Interim production of the vaccine has already begun in Ras al-Khaimah by Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries PSC (Julphar) has the capacity to produce two million doses per month.

Julphar’s share price surged 14.4 percent to 1.4 dirhams ($0.3812).

The UAE has said its trials showed the vaccine has 86-percent efficacy, while Sinopharm reports 79.34-percent efficacy based on interim results.