South Africa initiates Phase 3 clinical trail of China’s Sinovac vaccine, inoculates 2000 children

Last updated on September 13th, 2021 at 09:07 am

On Friday, South Africa joined the global ongoing phase 3 clinical trial of China’s Sinovac Biotech Covid-19 vaccine. The clinical trial id for ages 6 months to 17 years. The African country has vaccinated first 2000 children as a part of the trial. The objective of the global clinical trial is to evaluate the efficacy of two doses of the CoronaVac vaccine against confirmed yet asymptomatic cases of Covid-19 children and adolescents between ages 6 months and 17 years.

Efficacy will also be determined in terms of hospitalization and severity of symptoms in severe cases of infection. The first anonymous candidates, a boy and a girl both aged 17 years, received their vaccine at the MeCRU Clinical Research Unit, based at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, north of Pretoria.

In South Africa, Numolux has entered in partnership with seven clinical research sites across the African nation enrolling 2000 participants in the said age groups. First the trails are to be conducted in age group of 12-17 years and then move forward to smaller age groups.

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“The vaccine has been tested in phase three trials in adults in Brazil, in Chile, in Indonesia and in the Philippines. It has been shown to be very effective in these studies ranging from 51 per cent in a healthcare population, to 93 per cent in the Turkish and Indonesian populations and 87 per cent in Chile,” said Dr Sanet Aspinal, the Numolux group virologist. Currently, Sinovac holds conditional approval from the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) for ages 18 years to 59 years. Numolux Group CEO Hilton Klein has noted the vaccine was critical to protect children of Africa.

“(We have) joined Sinovac in the fight against this deadly monster to ensure that the children of Africa have access to a safe and effective children’s vaccine to protect them against COVID-19,” Klein said. The worldwide study includes 14,000 children and adolescents in countries of South Africa, Chile, the Philippines, Kenya and Malaysia.