The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday approved the emergency use of the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine. With this development, the WHO has assured that the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine meets all international standards in terms of safety, efficacy and manufacturing. Based on this assurance, countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities across the world can begin to import the vaccine and utilise it in their vaccination efforts to combat COVID-19.

The vaccine is developed by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.

The approval decision was taken by the WHO after the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization (SAGE) completed its review of the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine. On the basis of the available research, WHO has recommended the use of the vaccine for inoculating adults aged 18 years and above. It added that it must be a two-dose vaccination schedule administered between a gap of two to four weeks.

"Vaccine efficacy results showed that the vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 51 percent of those vaccinated and prevented severe COVID-19 and hospitalization in 100 percent of the studied population," WHO said in a press release.

Notably, the Sinovac-CoronaVac is an inactivated vaccine to fight COVID-19. It is easy to store and transport from one place to another which makes it highly manageable, particularly in low-resource settings. 

WAM