KUCHING: The decision by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Authority (NPRA) to give conditional approval for the Sinovac vaccines to be used on those aged 12 and above was welcomed.
Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) advisor Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian viewed that the approval was crucial to ensure the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines on those aged 12 to 17 who are allergic to the Pfizer vaccines.
“It is timely for the NPRA medical experts chaired by Health director general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah to review Sinovac’s submissions and give conditional approval for (its use on) 12- to 17-year-olds.
“This will be another weapon in our war against Covid-19,” he said in a Facebook post on Friday.
Dr Sim said SDMC will work with the Sarawak’s Covid-19 Immunisation Task Force (CITF) and the Health Department on the latest conditional approval.
“I am also looking forward to the NPRA’s decision on the Pfizer and Sinovac applications for the younger age group (below 12) as they accounted for about 20 percent of the Covid-19 cases in Sarawak,” he said.
On Friday, the Health Ministry announced that the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine from Chinese manufacturer Sinovac has been given conditional approval for those aged 12 and above.
In a statement the ministry said the use of CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine from Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd, China and Pharmaniaga Lifesciences Sdn Bhd, Malaysia, was approved in a Drug Control Authority meeting.
“The meeting agreed to grant conditional approval for the use of the CoronaVac vaccine produced to those aged 12 years and above. CoronaVac has previously approved conditional registration for individuals aged 18 and above.
“This is the second Covid-19 vaccine approved for use in adolescents after the same approval was given in June 2021 for the Comirnaty vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech,” it said.
