MANILA – China has authorized the Sinovac-manufactured CoronaVac for emergency usage in children aged three to 17, according to the Chinese Embassy in Manila on Tuesday.
The Embassy said in a statement that the approval is based on Phase III clinical trial data that show CoronaVac is “at least 98.9 percent effective in generating antibodies, a higher efficacy than in the population over 18 years old”.
According to the Embassy, the study included 180 volunteers within the age group.
The findings revealed that the generation of antibodies ranged from 98.9 percent to 100 percent depending on the dosage after the second shot.
According to Sinovac’s website, the amount of neutralizing antibody was close to the level reported 28 days after immunization and remained much greater than the level observed in adults and the elderly during the same period.
“This indicates that CoronaVac has stable and good immunogenicity among the children and adolescent population, recording better results compared to those in people aged 18 and above,” it said.
In February 2021, the Philippines granted Sinovac’s jab an emergency use authorization (EUA) for healthy people aged 18 to 59.
The Chinese company filed for an amendment to its EUA on July 7 to include children aged three to seventeen, but the country’s Food and Drug Administration has yet to make a judgment.
