London: The World Health Organisation has made its long-awaited decision on China’s Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, approving the jab for emergency use in all adults, meaning it can be rolled out globally.
The WHO said that based on the available data, the vaccine was 79 per cent effective against symptomatic and hospitalised disease for all ages. Clinical trials run by the state-owned company Sinopharm also showed that it had an efficacy rate of 79 per cent.
A medical worker poses with a vial of the Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine.Credit:
It will be the first vaccine that will carry vaccine vial monitors – small stickers that will change colour if exposed to heat.
It is also the first time the WHO has given emergency-use approval to a Chinese vaccine for any infectious disease. Earlier this week, separate WHO experts had expressed concern about the quality of data the company provided on side effects.
In its statement approving the vaccine for emergency use, WHO said that as few older adults, aged over 60 were enrolled in trials, the vaccine’s efficacy could not be estimated for this age group.
But it said preliminary data and supportive immunogenicity data suggested the vaccine “is likely to have a protective effect” in older persons.
“There is no theoretical reason to believe that the vaccine has a different safety profile in older and younger populations,” the WHO said.
“WHO therefore recommends that countries using the vaccine in older age groups conduct safety and effectiveness monitoring to make the recommendation more robust.”
The WHO said part of its processes in granting Sinopharm Emergency Use Listing included on-site inspection visits of the Chinese production facilities.
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