The World Health Organization on Friday declared a vaccine made by a Chinese company, Sinopharm, as a safe and reliable way to fight the virus. The declaration marks a significant step toward clearing up doubts about the vaccine, after little late-phase clini…

Developing countries racing for coronavirus vaccines now have another dependable option and Chinas reputation as a rising scientific superpower just got a big boost.
The World Health Organization on Friday declared a vaccine made by a Chinese company, Sinopharm, as a safe and reliable way to fight the virus. The declaration marks a significant step toward clearing up doubts about the vaccine, after little late-phase clinical trial data was disclosed by the Chinese government and the company.
The WHO emergency use approval allows the Sinopharm vaccine to be included in Covax, a global initiative to provide free vaccines to poor countries. The possible inclusion in Covax raises hopes that more people especially those in developing nations will get access to shots at a crucial moment.
Rich countries are hoarding doses of vaccines. India, a major vaccine maker, has stopped exports to address its worsening coronavirus crisis. Safety concerns led health authorities in some countries to temporarily pause the use of vaccines made by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.
Reliable vaccine access could improve even further next week when the WHO considers another Chinese shot, made by a company called Sinovac. But the fanfare may be short-lived. While China has claimed it can make up to 5 billion doses by the end of this year, Chinese officials say the country is struggling to manufacture enough doses for its own population and are cautioning a pandemic-weary world to keep expectations in check.
Sinopharm and Sinovac are producing about 12 million doses a day, just a little more than the 10 million doses that China hopes to administer daily to meet its domestic target. The companies would have to produce roughly 500 million additional doses to meet the demands of other countries, according to a calculation of data provided by Bridge Consulting, a Beijing-based consultancy focused on Chinas impact on global health.
Chinas vaccines have been rolled out to more than 80 countries, but they have faced significant skepticism, in part because the companies have not released phase three clinical trial data for scientists to independently assess the vaccines efficacy rates. An advisory group to the WHO published the data this week.
For Chinas leaders, the WHO approval can still be seen as a badge of honor. Xi Jinping, Chinas top leader, has pledged to make a COVID-19 vaccine a global public good.