Chinese officials have expanded the implementation of the native Sinovac coronavirus vaccine so that people other than just those at high risk and priority groups can get it.
Regulators on Friday conditionally approved the incident of Sinovac Biotech Ltd., CoronaVac, the national medical products said.
The Sinovac vaccine is already available in at least ten other countries and is being administered in at least five other countries. The shot was approved in China last year for, among others, medical workers and employees of state-owned enterprises, the AP reported.
However, research on Sinovac continues. The company must submit data as well as reports of adverse effects after the vaccine has been sold on the market.
Sinovac officials are accused of lacking transparency due to conflicting efficacy data for the vaccine in different countries. Officials in Turkey, where part of the Phase 3 clinical trials were presented, said the efficiency rate was 91.25 percent.
But a study in Brazil showed that the Sinovac vaccine was only 50 percent effective.
Last month, China expressed fears over the safety of Pfizer’s COVID-19 shot to divert controversy over its own vaccine, according to a report.
So far, the company has only released Phase 1 and Phase 2 data for its vaccine.
Full clinical trial data for the stage 3 trials will be released later in a peer-reviewed journal, Sinovac officials said.