The World Health Organization(WHO) on Tuesday granted emergency authorisation to China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine.

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The UN health body had last month granted emergency use authorisation to China's Sinopharm which is a two-dose vaccine.

"WHO today validated the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use," the health body said.

The WHO had earlier given the green light for emergency authorisation to Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson including the AstraZeneca jab.

Sinopharm was the sixth vaccine to receive WHO validation for safety, efficacy and quality, according to the WHO. The Chinese vaccine is reportedly used in 42 countries including UAE, Egypt, Pakistan, Iran,  Algeria among others.

Emergency use listing allows countries to approve and import the vaccine for distribution in their own country and it can also become a part of the Covax global vaccine-sharing scheme.

Singapore's health minister Ong Ye Kung had said recently that the country could start using the  Sinovac vaccine if it is approved by the WHO.

Thailand is also set to receive 3 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine next month. 

In April, Europe's medicines watchdog the European Medicines Agency(EMA) had said it had started reviewing the Sinovac coronavirus vaccine for approval.

The vaccine contains inactivated form of the virus that cannot cause the disease and contains substances that strengths the immune system.

According to the EMA, after the Sinovac vaccine is administered to a person, the immune system identifies the inactivated virus as foreign and makes antibodies against it and recognises the active virus and defends the body against it.

China had approved the Sinovac vaccine in February.

(With inputs from Agencies)