The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted emergency approval for Chinese manufacturer Sinovac’s coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine meets international standards for efficacy, safety and manufacturing, the organization said today in Geneva. Immunization requires two doses of vaccine two to four weeks apart.
According to the assessment of WHO’s independent Vaccine Advisory Group (SAGE), the vaccine prevented any symptoms of disease in 51 percent of those vaccinated. Severe covid 19 disease and hospitalization were prevented in 100 percent. With approval, UN organizations can purchase and distribute the drug. Among them is the Covax international vaccination program, which is relied on primarily by poorer countries to allocate coronavirus vaccines.
Sinovac is now the second Chinese vaccine to receive WHO emergency approval. Chinese company Sinopharm’s vaccine already received WHO approval on May 7. Countries that do not have their own regulatory authority often use the WHO decision as the basis for their own approval. For the EU, the U.S. and other countries with regulatory authorities, the WHO’s emergency approval has no meaning. They review active ingredients themselves and decide on approval.
- source: orf.at/picture: bbc.vom
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