China approves Covid-19 vaccine for children as young as three
- Other countries have authorised vaccinations for under-18s but nowhere else has given the green light for their use on such a young age group
- The vaccine maker Sinovac tells state broadcaster CCTV that it has been carrying out trials on minors and found no differences with adults
On Friday, Yin Weidong, the chief executive officer of the Beijing-based vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech, told state broadcaster CCTV: “Sinovac has carried out a clinical study on the minor population, which started at the beginning of this year, with the first and second phase clinical trials completed.
“Hundreds of cases showed that after vaccination, the group [three to 17 years old] is as safe as the 18-year-old adult group.”
Although other countries have approved the use of vaccines for minors, nowhere else has extended it to children so young.
There are relatively few studies on the efficacy or potential side effects of the vaccines on children and they are regarded as a low priority compared with high-risk groups such as the elderly or frontline medical workers.