Chinese Sinovac vaccine approved by World Health Organization

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the Chinese Sinovac vaccine for use in people 18 years and older, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks.

The World Health Organization (WHO) validated on Tuesday the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech for emergency use.

WHO recommends the vaccine for use in people 18 years and older, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks, according to a statement.

The efficacy results showed that the Sinovac vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 51 percent of those vaccinated, and prevented severe Covid-19 and hospitalisation in 100 per cent of the studied population, according to the WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE). The CoronaVac vaccine was “found to be safe, effective, and quality-assured following two doses of the inactivated vaccine.”

WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) has recommended the vaccine for people over 18. Two doses should be spaced between two and four weeks.

Unlike some other vaccines, CoronaVac doesn’t need to be kept at super-cold temperatures.

“The easy storage requirements of CoronaVac make it very suitable for low-resource settings,” Tedros said. “It’s now crucial to get these lifesaving tools to the people that need them quickly.”

There is urgent need for Covid-19 vaccines in places where coronavirus is surging and in countries that have been unable to procure sufficient doses. AstraZeneca has not been able to produce vaccines fast enough, according to a report by CNN.

It is hoped the Sinovac approval will boost supplies of the global vaccine-sharing program COVAX. The program has recently faced a severe shortage of supplies from India, which halted export of the AstraZeneca vaccine amid its Covid-19 crisis. Western countries have also been criticized for vaccine stockpiling.

On Tuesday, China said it had produced the first batches of its Sinopharm vaccines to be distributed to COVAX, according to state media Xinhua. China plans to provide 10 million doses to the global vaccine sharing scheme.