Sinopharm vs Moderna: A Comparison

Bangladesh has recently approved China's Sinopharm vaccine while Renata Pharmaceuticals has sought permission to import the Moderna jabs from the United States.

The development came in a week amid complexities over the vaccination programme because of a faltering supply of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from India's Serum Institute.

We present to you for comparison, features of these two vaccines in terms of cost, efficacy, and temperature required to preserve the jabs.

Sinopharm: The coronavirus vaccine developed by the Chinese company Sinopharm officially called BBIBP-CorV, is a two-dose vaccine that needs to be given at an interval of 28 days. The World Health Organisation (WHO) expects to decide whether to give emergency approval for this vaccine by next week.

Moderna: US company Moderna developed its mRNA-1273 vaccine against Covid-19, and the two-dose vaccine was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Price: No decision has yet been made on the local price of the two vaccines. However, each dose of the Sinopharm vaccine costs $30.89, and the Moderna one costs $37, according to FiercePharma.

Efficacy: The Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm found a 79% efficacy for its vaccine during its clinical trials. On the other hand, Moderna's vaccine was found to be 95% effective against the virus, according to the BBC.

Temperature: One of Sinopharm's main advantages is that it can be stored in a standard refrigerator at 2-8 degrees Celsius, while Moderna's vaccine needs to be stored at -20C, reports BBC.

Bangladesh has the capacity to preserve vaccines at temperatures below zero degrees in the capital, but there is no arrangement to store it outside Dhaka, said Dr ABM Khurshid Alam, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services on 3 May.