China approved the use of Sinovac vaccine for me …

China authorized the emergency use of the coronavirus vaccine CoronaVac in order to minors between 3 and 17 years old, as reported on Saturday by local pharmacist Sinovac, developer of the drug, and became in the first country in the world to grant accreditation to children so young.

The president of the laboratory, Yin Weidong, was responsible for breaking the news, although he indicated that “It has not yet been decided when it will start to be used” in the mass vaccination campaign which has so far included people over the age of 18.

Sinovac has completed phases I and II of clinical research with hundreds of volunteers in this age group, and Yin explained that “the vaccine is as safe and effective as it is for adults,” in addition to the fact that “most of the side effects were mild”.

On the other hand, he clarified that young people have a lower priority for coronavirus vaccination compared to older people, who face a higher risk of severe symptoms after infection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) last Tuesday approved the CoronaVac vaccine, the second Chinese injectable to receive authorization from the health body after Sinopharm, which is already administered in Argentina.

The drug “meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacture,” WHO said in a statement at the time, adding that its technical advisers had visited the Beijing laboratory facilities before returning its decision. “Its easy storage requirements make it very manageable and particularly suited to low-resource environments,” the health agency said.

The vaccine’s efficacy results showed that it prevented symptomatic illness in 51% of those vaccinated and prevented severe COVID-19 and hospitalization in 100% of the study population.

On the other hand, Sinovac also completed a Phase II clinical trial in which participants received a third booster dose after taking two regular injections.

People who took part in the test saw their antibody levels 10 times higher than previous levels in a week and 20 times in half a month.

However, the lab warned it still needs to complete the longer-term observation of the duration of the antibody before it can make recommendations to authorities on when a third dose should be given.