The imminent World Health Organisation (WHO) approval of China’s Sinopharm vaccine will be a welcome relief for Middle East travellers and European economies alike, according to Bruno Trenchard, senior manager, Hotels and Hospitality, CBRE Middle East as the EU prepares to potentially ease restrictions on non-essential travel from overseas.
Under current guidelines the European Union only permits non-essential travel from seven countries, although new plans being discussed will see anyone who has received both doses of an EU-approved vaccine at least two weeks beforehand, being allowed to travel.
It was announced earlier this week that members of the EU will be able to accept tourists from outside the jurisdiction as long as they have received an approved vaccine, although this could be extended to include vaccines which have been passed by the WHO’s emergency listing process.
Currently the EU has approved four vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Janssen/Johnson & Johnson. The sinopharm vaccine, which has been readily used in the UAE, Bahrain and other Middle East countries, is awaiting official approval from the WHO.
Trenchard told Arabian Business: “It was expected that the European Union would announce updated travel rules for non-EU citizens as many economies rely very heavily on tourism, especially during summer peak season. They don’t really have the luxury to close international borders, especially to GCC travelers who are very fond of the Mediterranean in summer and are some of the highest spenders.
“Considering that the UAE, Bahrain and other Middle Eastern countries used the Sinopharm jab extensively for their vaccination campaigns, it would then make economical sense to allow GCC residents and citizens to enter Europe easily.”
The UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention (MOHAP) officially registered the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine in December in what was called at the time a “major step” towards combating the global pandemic.
Bruno Trenchard, senior manager, Hotels and Hospitality, CBRE Middle East
According to the health ministry, interim analysis of the Phase III trials of Beijing Institute of Biological Product’s vaccine, conducted across the UAE, returned an 86 percent success rate against the virus.
The analysis also revealed the vaccine to have 99 percent seroconversion rate of neutralising antibody and 100 percent effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease.
And in March a joint venture was announced between Sinopharm CNBG and Abu Dhabi-based G42, which promised up to 200 million doses of the vaccine to be produced annually at a new plant in the Middle East, which is expected to become operational this year.
Mariângela Simão, WHO assistant-director general for Access to Medicines, was reported to have said at a press conference on Monday: “We are finalising the assessment of Sinopharm [but] there’s still some documentation that needs to be added. We will start the final assessment for the listing of Sinovac on the fifth [of May], so we expect both the Chinese vaccines [to] be finalised by the end of this week.”
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