WHO Greenlights China’s Sinovac Coronavirus Vaccine

WHO Greenlights China’s Sinovac Coronavirus Vaccine.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) greenlights China’s Sinovac coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine has been approved for emergency use and will be allowed to be administered to adults aged 18 and over.

The WHO made the approval on Tuesday and this is the second time that they have granted approval to a Chinese company, the first approval was for Sinopharm.

According to the UN health agency the data they received shows that once the full course of two doses of the vaccine have been administered, this vaccine seems effective in about half of those who have been vaccinated.

However, in the research there was a lack of elderly people so according to the WHO it is not possible to estimate how effective it will be in those aged over 60.

According to the agency though: “Nevertheless, WHO is not recommending an upper age limit for the vaccine”. The Sinovac vaccine has been tested in other countries and this data suggests that: “the vaccine is likely to have a protective effect in older persons.”

Scientists in Brazil tested out the vaccine and in a study published in April they confirmed that the efficacy rate of Sinovac comes in at over 50 per cent. In April a real-world study was carried out in Chile and this suggested the efficacy rate came in higher, at 67 per cent.

The authorisation by the WHO will permit the Sinovac vaccine to be bought by UN agencies and donors to be used in developing countries. This includes the COVAX initiative which aims to provide Covid vaccines to poorer countries.

Dr Mariângela Simão, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Health Products commented that: “The world desperately needs multiple COVID-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe,”

“We urge manufacturers to participate in the COVAX Facility, share their know-how and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control.”

Use in the EU though still requires authorisation from Europe’s drug regulator which began an expedited review process in May.

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