They are effective, but ... Vaccines from Chinese laboratories Sinopharm and Sinovac have shown to be safe against the coronavirus, however more data is needed, WHO experts said on Wednesday.
"The vaccines have demonstrated their safety and their good effectiveness against Covid-19 when the patient presents symptoms, but there is a lack of data (...) concerning the elderly and (those) suffering from other diseases" , said the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) on immunization.
These experts are responsible in particular for formulating recommendations on vaccination.
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In a document summarizing the main points raised during the meeting, experts said that these two Chinese vaccines - which have applied for WHO approval - will, once introduced, have to produce studies on their efficacy and safety "to assess their effects on these sub-populations".
The WHO decisions on the registration applications filed by Sinopharm and Sinovac are not expected until at least early April.
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The approval by the WHO under the Emergency Procedure (EUL) allows countries to expedite their own regulatory approval procedures to import and administer the vaccine.
It also allows Unicef to buy the vaccine for distribution to countries in need.
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SAGE Group chairman Alejandro Cravioto said experts would wait for the WHO's decision on their approval before publishing their recommendations on the use of the two Chinese vaccines.
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On December 31, 2020, the WHO granted its first emergency approval for the Pfizer-BioNTech anti-Covid vaccine.
He did the same, on February 15, for the vaccines developed by AstraZeneca (the one manufactured in South Korea and the one manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India), and on March 12 for the single-dose one from Johnson & Johnson. .
