WHO approves emergency use of China’s Sinovac vaccine
(VOVWORLD) - The World Health Organization on Tuesday approved the emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech company. This is the second Chinese vaccine that has been greenlighted by WHO after Sinopharm.
 China’s Sinovac vaccine (Photo: VNA) |
The WHO recommends the use of Sinovac's vaccine for persons 18 years of age and older, two doses with a second dose two to four weeks later. There is no age limit as the data suggest that the vaccine is effective in protecting the elderly.
On May 7, Sinopharm's vaccine was the first COVID-19 vaccine not from a Western pharmaceutical company that received WHO approval for emergency use.
Sinopharm and Sinovac, China's two key COVID-19 vaccines, have been administered to hundreds of millions of people in this country and some other countries. WHO's latest decision will pave the way for China's second vaccine to be used in poor countries under the global vaccine access mechanism (COVAX) as this mechanism is facing supply shortages after India stops exporting vaccines.
A third Chinese vaccine manufactured by CanSino Biologics has been submitted to clinical trial results pending approval, but WHO has not yet planned to evaluate the vaccine.