China’s Sinovac jab gets WHO’s nod

BEIJING/TORONTO: The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved China’s Covid-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech for emergency use, a statement from the UN health agency said on Tuesday, making it the second Chinese-produced shot to get the WHO’s nod.

“On the basis of available evidence, the WHO recommends the vaccine for use in adults 18 years and older, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks,” the WHO said in a statement. Last month, the WHO had approved for emergency use a Covid-19 vaccine made by China’s state-owned drugmaker Sinopharm. It was the first developed by a non-Western country to win the WHO’s approval.

The WHO has also licensed vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

In the US, Moderna has said that it has begun the process to secure full US regulatory approval for the use of its Covid-19 vaccine in adults. Moderna said it has begun a “rolling submission” to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of data from its studies of the two-dose vaccine.

Canada to mix and match shots for easier roll-out

Canadian health authorities have announced that Covid-19 vaccines will be mixed and matched, and the process could ensure a quicker roll-out of the national vaccination drive.

The announcement from the Public Health Agency of Canada was based on an updated guidance from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI), which recommended that a first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, including the Covishield version manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, could be followed by a second dose of either the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

Peru has more than doubled its official coronavirus death toll from around 69,300 to 180,700, becoming the country with the highest Covid-19 mortality per capita anywhere in the world.