SINOVAC’s COVID-19 vaccine becomes WHO’s first dose for 3-year-olds
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expanded the use of Chinese manufacturer SINOVAC Biotech’s COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 3-17, making it the first and only vaccine on the WHO’s Emergency Use Listing (EUL) that has been recommended for children aged 3-4, the Global Times learned from the company on Wednesday.
SINOVAC’s inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac, was included in the WHO EUL on June 1, 2021, recommended for people aged 18 and above. The vaccine has been approved for use by 60 countries, regions and international organizations and approved for use in juveniles in 14 of the 60 places. A total of 2.9 billion doses of the vaccine have been administered globally, the statement noted.
According to global clinical research and realworld data, CoronaVac showed sound safety in children and juveniles aged 6 months and above, the company said.
China kicked off vaccination for juveniles in July 2021.
Tao Lina, a Shanghai-based expert in epidemic prevention and control systems, suggested offering booster shots to those in the 3-17 group as soon as possible amid the surging epidemic.
It would be better to provide vaccines based on innovative technologies like inhaled vaccines and the recombinant protein vaccine as boosters for juveniles who have previously been given inactivated shots, as sequential vaccination would enhance antibodies to a higher level over those made by the same inactivated method, Tao said.
A research team led by Lu Hongzhou, head of the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, also recommended boosters for the group as their clinical study showed that vaccines could effectively prevent symptoms and shorten the time for children to test negative for COVID-19 after being infected.
However, Zhuang Shilihe, a Guangzhoubased expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the rate of severe disease and death among juveniles caused by COVID-19 is much lower compared with the elderly group, so the current emergency task for the country is still to promote booster shots among the elderly.