China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine gets WHO emergency approval

Daily US Times: The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, the second vaccine made by China to receive the green light from the WHO, after Sinopharm.

It opens the door for the Covid vaccine to be used in the Covax programme, which aims to ensure fair access to vaccines.

The vaccine has already been used in several countries and has been recommended for over 18s, with a second dose two to four weeks later.

The emergency approval means the Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine “meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing”, the WHO said.

Studies showed that the vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in more than half of those vaccinated and prevented severe symptoms and hospitalisation in 100% of those studied, it added.

It is hoped that the decision to list the vaccine made by the Chinese farm for emergency use will give a boost to the Covax initiative, which has been struggling with supply problems.

Mariangela Simao, the WHO’s assistant director general for access to health products, said: “The world desperately needs multiple Covid-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe,” said

She added: “We urge manufacturers to participate in the Covax facility, share their know-how and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control,” she said.

As well as China, the vaccine is already being administered in countries including Indonesia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Thailand and Turkey.

Sinovac says it has supplied more than 600 million doses of the vaccine at home and abroad as of the end of May. The company says more than 430 million doses have been administered.

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