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COVID-19 Updates » Sinovac to Trial COVID-19 Vaccine in South African Children as Part of Global Study

Sinovac to Trial COVID-19 Vaccine in South African Children as Part of Global Study


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September 9, 2021 at 5:29 PM

China's Sinovac Biotech will trial its Covid-19 vaccine in children and adolescents in South Africa as part of a global Phase III study, Sinovac and local partner Numolux Group said on Thursday (Sept 9).

The study will evaluate the efficacy, immunogenicity and safety of the CoronaVac vaccine on children and adolescents aged six months to 17 years, the firms said in a statement.

The global trial will enrol 14,000 participants in Chile, the Philippines, Malaysia and Kenya as well as 2,000 in South Africa, they said.

The trial has been approved by South African drugs regulator Sahpra, and the first child will be vaccinated at the MeCRU Clinical Research Unit based at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University on Friday.

"The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the efficacy of two doses of CoronaVac against confirmed symptomatic Covid-19 cases in children and adolescents... efficacy will also be evaluated against hospitalisation and severe Covid-19," Sinovac and Numolux said.

The South African government has said it is considering using the CoronaVac vaccine in its immunisation programme alongside shots developed by Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson which have been administered so far. 

Sahpra gave conditional authorisation for use of Sinovac’s vaccine in July.  But last month a senior health official told Reuters the government was looking for more information from the Chinese company on how its vaccine performs against the Delta coronavirus variant as well as in populations with HIV. 

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