Chief scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said on Monday that the WHO is discussing cooperation with Chinese COVID-19 vaccine developers.

Photo: CGTN

Two Chinese vaccines, produced by Sinovac and Sinopharm, are now "in very advanced stage" of the WHO Emergency Use Listing Procedure (EUL) assessment, an official from the WHO said last week.

So far, only the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has received EUL approval. Two other vaccines – Britain's AstraZeneca and South Korea's SK Bioscience – are also being assessed.

The EUL, a process for licensing new vaccines by the WHO, is important for many applications, not least to be approved as part of the COVAX Facility led by the WHO for efficient and equitable global access to the COVID-19 vaccines.