The World Health Organisation (WHO) has finally approved the use of Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine after clinical testing.
The approval of the Sinovac jab means that is now able to be distributed as part of the WHO Covax program. So far, the most widely used vaccine by WHO to developing countries is AstraZeneca because of its affordable price and easy storage.
“Now is a crucial moment to immediately distribute this vaccine (SINOVAC) to people in need,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Sinovac, manufactured in China, is the eighth COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the WHO and the second COVID-19 vaccine from China to be approved.
The WHO test results show that the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine has a 51 percent efficacy for preventing severe symptoms of COVID-19. These results are in line with the results of tests by regulatory bodies in various countries which show the efficacy of Sinovac in the range of 51-94 percent.
Sinovac usage in Indonesia in mid-May was proven to be 94 percent effective in preventing COVID-19 symptoms. The results were obtained by the Indonesian Food and Drug Regulatory Agency after studying the impact of the vaccine on 120,000 medical workers.
On Monday 31st May, Indonesia received another 8 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine, meaning that the total number of doses received by Indonesia stands at 92.9 million.
Sinovac added that they have distributed approximately 600 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine as of 31st May 2021. Of those doses, 430 million of them have already been distributed to the public.
“Clinical trials have provided strong evidence supporting the use of the Sinovac vaccine in 40 countries,” said Sinovac CEO Weidong Yin.