China approves Sinopharm’s vaccine for emergency use in children over 3

Beijing: Chinese company Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine was approved for emergency use in children over the age of 3 in China, a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant said in a statement on Saturday.
“The inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products [part of Sinopharm] received the approval for emergency use in people aged 3 to 17 from July 16,” the China National Biotec Group Company Limited said.
The statement added that the tests proved that the vaccine was safe and no serious side effects were identified apart from a fever and a mild pain in the injection area.
China’s Sinopharm vaccine was approved by the World Health Organisation for emergency use on May 7.
The Beijing Institute of Biological Products said on December 30, 2020 that the vaccine is 79.34% effective.