The Chinese drug regulatory authority has given its “conditional” approval for a second vaccine against Covid-19, the CoronaVac from Sinovac, the Chinese pharmaceutical company announced on Saturday.
The vaccine has already been used to vaccinate certain “at risk” populations, but this authorization allows it to be used by the general public.
A conditional authorization makes it possible to deploy emergency treatments on the market, in cases where clinical trials have yet to be continued, but already indicate that these treatments will work.
This authorization comes after several trials of the vaccine, in China and in countries such as Brazil and Turkey, although “the results in terms of efficacy and safety have yet to be confirmed,” Sinovac said in a statement.
China had so far formally approved only one of its vaccines at the end of December, developed by the Sinopharm laboratory.
According to Sinovac, large-scale testing in Brazil has shown an overall vaccine effectiveness rate of around 50% in preventing infection, and 80% in preventing cases requiring medical intervention.