Chinese coronavirus vaccines’ efficacy data ‘meets WHO requirements’
- Products made by Sinopharm and Sinovac ‘have levels of efficacy that would be compatible with [WHO] requirements’, chairman of Strategic Advisory Group of Experts says
- Vaccines now on verge of being accepted for the Covax Facility, which aims to make billions of doses available to people in poorer countries
“The information that the companies shared publicly at the meeting last week clearly indicates that they have levels of efficacy that would be compatible with the requirements that WHO has asked for this vaccine,” Sage chairman Alejandro Cravioto said on Wednesday.
“That means about 50 per cent [efficacy] and preferably close to or above 70 per cent and of course, they have all the safety data to show that this vaccine would cause no harm in humans when used.”
The panel hoped to issue recommendations on the use of the vaccines by the end of the month, Cravioto said.
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China pushes mass vaccinations to build herd immunity against Covid-19
The WHO said in March that the two Chinese vaccines were in the process of being evaluated for emergency use and that a decision was not expected until April. Achieving emergency use status is a prerequisite for a product to be included in the WHO-led Covax programme, which has so far secured or optioned more than 3.5 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines.