KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's health ministry said on Friday it has granted conditional approval for emergency use to the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by China's Sinopharm .

The Sinopharm vaccine in Malaysia was registered by pharmaceutical company Duopharma Sdn Bhd, Director-General of Health Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement.

Duopharma had previously announced a deal to supply the Malaysian government with 6.4 million doses of the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine.

The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the health ministry's announcement on Sinopharm.

WHO approves China’s Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use

Authorities have also granted conditional approval to the Janssen COVID-19 vaccine made by U.S. drugmaker Johnson & Johnson and manufactured in Belgium, Noor Hisham said.

Malaysia had earlier approved another batch of Janssen vaccines that had been given the greenlight for emergency use by the World Health Organization.