WHO approves Sinovac vaccine for emergency use in all countries
As f now vaccination is currently underway with Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines in Georgia. Photo: Reuters/Tingshu Wang
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The World Health Organisation (WHO) has approved the second Chinese Sinovac vaccine for emergency use in all countries, giving the green light for this vaccine to be rolled out globally, including in Georgia.
Georgia started Sinovac vaccination on May 24 over a week before the final WHO approval.
WHO today validated the Sinovac-CoronaVac #COVID19 vaccine for emergency use, giving countries, funders, procuring agencies & communities the assurance that it meets international standards for safety, efficacy and manufacturing.
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 1, 2021
More ⬇️ https://t.co/Uy0xmGlAIT
The vaccine, produced by the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac, is an inactivated vaccine. Its easy storage requirements make it very manageable and particularly suitable for low-resource settings.
The world desperately needs multiple COVID-19 vaccines to address the huge access inequity across the globe”, WHO Assistant-Director General for Access to Health Products Dr Mariângela Simão said .
We urge manufacturers to participate in the COVAX Facility, share their knowhow and data and contribute to bringing the pandemic under control”, Dr Simão added.
Vaccine efficacy results showed that the vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 51% of those vaccinated and prevented severe Covid-19 and hospitalisation in 100% of the studied population.
WHO has already listed the Pfizer/BioNTech, Astrazeneca-SK Bio, Serum Institute of India, Astra Zeneca EU, Janssen, Moderna and Sinopharm #COVID19 vaccines for emergency use https://t.co/Uy0xmGlAIT
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 1, 2021
On the basis of available evidence, WHO recommends the vaccine for use in adults 18 years and older, in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks. Few older adults over 60 years were enrolled in clinical trials, so efficacy could not be estimated in this age group.
Nevertheless, WHO is not recommending an upper age limit for the vaccine. It instead recommends that countries using the vaccine in older age groups conduct safety and effectiveness monitoring to verify the expected impact and contribute to making the recommendation more robust for all countries.
Georgian Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze has tested positive for coronavirus. Employees of the ministry with whom Tikaradze had contact during the last days have moved to self-isolation.
Georgia has reported its first confirmed case of the South African coronavirus variant. Head of the National Center for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze said that the South African strain has been confirmed to a Georgian citizen with a travel history in Dubai.
Georgia has reported 1,233 new cases of coronavirus, 1,002 recoveries and 31 deaths in the past 24 hours.
After more than a year-long closure due to the coronavirus pandemic Georgia has today opened its land borders. Individuals are admitted through the land borders of Georgia with evidence of full vaccination and negative PCR test results or alternatively only with a negative PCR test result taken within the last 72 hours. A follow up test three days after entry must also be taken.
Georgia has reported 832 new cases of Covid-19 after conducting a total of 31,409 tests over the last 24 hours. Out of the 832 new cases 457 were reported in Tbilisi. Daily Covid-19 updates are now also available at a new bilingual webpage datacov.moh.gov.ge launched by the Georgian Health Ministry.
The World Bank has approved $34.5 million in additional financing today to support Georgia’s efforts to provide affordable and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, and ensure effective vaccine deployment in the country by strengthening the vaccination system, announces the World Bank.
Georgia has reported 705 new cases of coronavirus, 1,128 recoveries and 14 deaths in the past 24 hours. 33,253 tests were conducted around the country in the past 24 hours. 19,138 of the 33,253 tests were rapid tests, while the remaining 14,115 were PCR tests. The country has had 351,954 cases of coronavirus since February 26, 2020. 2.75 per cent of tested individuals had Covid-19 in the past 14 days.