WHO endorses Chinese Sinovac vaccine for coronavirus

CoronaVac, made by the Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac BioTech Ltd., was approved for emergency use., which reportedly opens the doors for Covax, an international body co-led by The WHO, to distribute doses internationally as needed.

"The world desperately needs multiple Covid-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe," said the WHO’s assistant-director general for access to health products Dr. Mariângela Simão.

The approval decision marks the seventh vaccine approved by The WHO for global use against COVID-19, and the second Chinese vaccine, behind Sinopharm.

"We urge manufacturers to participate in the Covax Facility, share their know-how and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control," said Simão. It is currently unclear when or how many doses the manufacturer will deliver to Covax.

Sinovax’s vaccine approval was initially slowed due to the WHO seeking more data on the vaccine, including data on the safety of the shot and whether its manufacturing processes were compliant with WHO standards.

The vaccine was also met with a rolling review by the European Medicines Agency in the beginning of May.

The WHO cited in its approval of CoronaVac that it has easy storage requirements, allowing for transportation that doesn’t require the vaccine to be refrigerated, like many of its counterparts.

The vaccine, recommended for use for those 18 and older with no upper age limit, prevented symptomatic disease in 51 percent of vaccinated trial participants and prevented severe COVID-19 symptoms and hospitalization in 100 percent of trial participants.