The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday validated the Sinovac-CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving countries, procuring agencies and communities the assurance that it meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing. The vaccine is produced by Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac.
"The world desperately needs multiple Covid-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe," WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Health Products, Mariangela Simao, said in a statement. "We urge manufacturers to participate in the Covax Facility, share their knowhow and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control," Simao added.
WHO's Emergency Use Listing (EUL) is a prerequisite for Covax facility vaccine supply and international procurement. It also allows countries to expedite their regulatory approval to import and administer Covid-19 vaccines. The EUL assesses the quality, safety and efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines, as well as risk management plans and programmatic suitability, such as cold chain requirements.
The assessment is performed by the product evaluation group, composed of regulatory experts from around the world and a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), in charge of performing the risk-benefit assessment for an independent recommendation on whether a vaccine can be listed for emergency use and, if so, under which conditions.
In the case of the Sinovac-CoronaVac vaccine, the WHO assessment included on-site inspections of the production facility. The Sinovac-CoronaVac product is an inactivated vaccine. Its easy storage requirements make it very manageable and particularly suitable for low-resource settings.
WHO's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) has also completed its review of the vaccine. Based on available evidence, WHO recommends the vaccine for use in adults 18 years and older, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks. Vaccine efficacy results showed that the vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 51% of those vaccinated and prevented severe Covid-19 and hospitalisation in 100 per cent of the studied population.