Interim recommendations for the use of COVID-19 vaccine inactivated, CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac
On 1 June 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) has validated the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving countries, funders, procuring agencies and communities the assurance that it meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing. The vaccine is produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac.
WHO assesses and validates unlicensed vaccines, therapeutics and in vitro diagnostics for emergency use listing (EUL) with the aim of expediting the availability of these products during public health emergencies. The assessment is performed by the product evaluation group, composed by regulatory experts from around the world and a Technical Advisory Group (TAG), in charge of performing the risk-benefit assessment for an independent recommendation on whether a vaccine can be listed for emergency use and, if so, under which conditions.
The Sinovac-CoronaVac product is an inactivated vaccine. It can be stored in 2-8 ° C standard fridges which makes it much more suitable for more remote and rural areas.
WHO has already listed the Pfizer/BioNTech, Astrazeneca-SK Bio, Serum Institute of India, Astra Zeneca EU, Janssen, Moderna and Sinopharm vaccines for emergency use.
Simultaneously, WHO has issued an interim guideline based on the recommendations issued by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on Immunization at its extraordinary meeting on 29 April 2021:
The Interim recommendations for the use of COVID-19 vaccine inactivated, CoronaVac, developed by Sinovac, can be found here: