Argentine President negotiates Chinese Sinopharm vaccine production

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – After his stay in Russia and meeting with President Vladimir Putin, President Alberto Fernández continues his international tour in China. In the middle of his agenda, one of the topics revealed is that both countries are in negotiations to start the local production of the Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 produced by the laboratory Sinergium Biotech, with a capacity to offer up to one million doses per week.

According to sources accompanying the President on his tour, in the afternoon of this Friday, February 4, there was a meeting between Sinopharm’s executives and Alberto Fernández’s entourage, where Governor Axel Kicillof and the President talked about the impact of these vaccines in the country and revealed that Sinopharm is going to start producing vaccines in Argentina.

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STATEMENTS MADE BY KICILLOF AND ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ AT THE MEETING WITH SINOPHARM EXECUTIVES

The Governor of Buenos Aires was the first to take the floor and thanked “on behalf of the people of the Province of Buenos Aires, because thanks to the work you have done together with the Republic of Argentina, and thanks to the early approval of the vaccine, you have managed to save millions of lives. Today the Argentine Republic is proudly one of the countries with the highest vaccination coverage in the world.”

“In that sense, China’s generosity has been key. The possibility of applying its vaccine to minors has allowed us to reach a vaccination coverage of close to 90%. There are now possibilities of association between Argentine companies and your company, which will allow us another of our central premises, the transfer of technology”, he added.

On his part, Alberto Fernández continued: “We can continue working together to see if we can transfer Sinopharm’s technology so that this vaccine can be produced in Argentina. And also to see how we can strengthen the link between Argentina and Sinopharm for other drugs. The experience we had with Sinopharm can be used to deepen other commercial ties, with other types of medication”.

In addition, the President took the opportunity to emphasize his gratitude to the administration of the leader Xi Jinping, acknowledging that Argentina had acquired more than 30 million doses of Sinopharm against COVID-19 in critical moments when there was a shortage of vaccines to strengthen the “largest Vaccination Plan in the history of the country”.

Likewise, the sources around the Argentinean President’s tour revealed that Sinopharm and Fundación Huésped jointly carried out Phase III trials of the vaccine, which allowed it to be quickly authorized by the National Administration of Medicines.

SINOPHARM, A VACCINE THAT EXPANDS ITS FRONTIERS

The Chinese company Sinopharm owns six inactivated-virus vaccine production plants in China. In addition, it has established vaccine filling and packaging plants in the United Arab Emirates, Serbia, and Morocco and is negotiating the same with Bangladesh, Hungary, Vietnam, Burma, and Uganda.

Currently, the annual production capacity is 7 billion doses. The cumulative amount of vaccine production has reached 2.5 billion doses. Sinopharm’s vaccine has been approved for use and marketing in 112 countries and regions globally and has achieved the GMP certificate of the European Union.

ALBERTO FERNÁNDEZ RECEIVED THE DISTINCTION OF HONORARY PROFESSOR FROM TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

At 4 PM, Alberto Fernández participated virtually in the ceremony of being awarded Honorary Professor by Tsinghua University, founded in 1911 and currently considered the best university in China, and ranked 17th in the QS World University Ranking 2021. President Xi Jinping and his predecessor, Hu Jintao, are both Tsinghua graduates.

In addition, Tsinghua University has had a cooperation agreement with the University of Buenos Aires since 2011. Despite the pandemic, both universities have kept in touch through different activities.

In his speech, the President said: “A short time ago, we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the University of Buenos Aires, and for us, this is a cause of real pride. One of the things we are proud of is to be part of a university that is one of the best in the world. And therefore I can only celebrate that the UBA has an agreement with the beloved Tsinghua University to work together”.

Fernández continued: “The world demands from us day by day more training, better education, more access to knowledge, and better development of science and technology. And in a world that has become globalized, like the world we live in, the relationship that should exist between the sources of knowledge that are the universities is very important. China is a millenary country with an admirable culture, it has earned the world’s respect, and we all observe it.”

“Definitely, in this globalized world, multilateralism is the great secret. We have put an end to the bipolar world, and as countries, we try to relate to each other, seeking a better destiny. Multilateralism is a great challenge we have as humanity. Pope Francis likes to use a phrase that serves well to explain what I am saying: It is time to build bridges and tear down walls”, he added.

In addition, the President of the Nation assured that for 50 years, Argentina and China have had a bond that has been strengthened over time. And that they are convinced that this is very beneficial for Argentina, China, and the world: “Argentina has a very important Chinese community”.

“We hope that these times of pandemic will end and that I will have the opportunity to visit the University of Tsinghua, which is already dear to my heart. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for this recognition. Argentina’s doors are open, and whatever our government can do to deepen ties, we will do it. I wish you all the best in this New Year you are celebrating, for you, your families and all the people of China. Thank you very much”, concluded Fernández.

PRESIDENTIAL AGENDA IN CHINA

At 7:30 AM, the President and his entourage visited the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Museum.

At 9 PM, China time, the President is expected to participate in the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games – Beijing 2022.

At 10:30 PM, the Head of State and the entourage will tour the Forbidden City (Palace Museum) and then participate in the lunch offered in honor of the heads of state participating in the opening of the Winter Olympic Games.

With information from Perfil