China's CoronaVac COVID-19 Vaccine Appears Safe In Non-Peer Reviewed Study

A two-dose "CoronaVac" COVID-19 vaccine from Sinovac Biotech appears safe and able to trigger immune responses among children and adolescents based on preliminary results of an unpublished and non-peer reviewed study.

The results were drawn from early to mid-stage stage clinical trials involving more than 500 people between the ages of three and 17 in China that received two shots of either medium or low dosage, or a placebo.

The antibody levels triggered by CoronaVac were higher than those seen in adults aged 18 to 59 and in elderly people in earlier clinical trials, said Dr. Zeng Gang, a researcher at Sinovac Biotech during an academic conference in Beijing.

Most adverse reactions to CoronaVac were mild, he said. Two children that received the lower dose were reported to have experienced higher fever, categorized as grade 3.

Separately, the company conducted late stage clinical trials in Indonesia, Brazil and Bangladesh. It began its Indonesia trial in mid-August 2020 involving 1,620 patients. Sinovac is developing CoronaVac along with Indonesian state-owned vaccine manufacturer, PT Bio Farma (Persero).

So far, Sinovac said it has supplied 160 million vaccine doses to 18 countries and regions, including China. It is one of three Chinese vaccines in widespread use worldwide.

The other two Chinese vaccines in use are the two-dose "BBIBP-CorV" from Sinopharm, the Beijing Institute of Biological Products and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products and the one dose "Ad5-nCoV" (Convidicea) from CanSino Biologics and the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences.