China has approved the urgent use of Sinovac Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine for children between the ages of three and 17, its chairman Yin Weidong told state TV late Friday.
The mass immunization campaign in China, which ran 723.5 million doses of vaccine since June 3, is currently only open to those 18 years and older.
When the Sinovac vaccine was to be given to small groups according to health officials developing Chinese vaccination strategies, Yin told state TV in a live interview.
Yin said children are more important in vaccinating against coronavirus compared to adults, who are at greater risk of developing severe symptoms after infection.
Preliminary results from Phase I and II clinical trials showed that the vaccine could cause an allergic reaction in three to 17-year-old 17-year-olds, and the adverse reactions were minimal.
Government-sponsored drugmaker Sinopharm, who has two shots using the same technology on the Sinovac product, is also sending approval information to small groups. The vaccine from CanSino Biologics, using a different approach, has entered a Phase II trial involving people between the ages of 6 and 17.
Sinovac also completed a Phase II clinical trial in which participants were injected with a third stabilization dose after completing two standard guns, Yin said.
Participants saw a tenfold increase in antibody levels compared to previous levels per week, and 20 half a month, Yin said.
Yin warned that Sinovac still needed to complete long-term detection of antibodies before making recommendations to authorities about when a third dose should be given.
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