Sinovac Biotech Ltd. ("SINOVAC" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SVA),
a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today
announced it will provide its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine,
CoronaVac® (original strains), to self-paying groups in Hong Kong.
Additionally, the company will collaborate with local charity
groups to provide donations, giving more children in Hong Kong
access to free vaccines to protect against COVID-19.
On Mar 31, 2023, the Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region announced that from April 20 onwards, high
risk groups shall be able to receive free doses of the COVID-19
vaccines whereas the low risk groups, including children, are only
able to receive their vaccines via the private market through
self-pay method.. SINOVAC’s provision of CoronaVac® shall fulfill
the needs of this low-risk groups, while helping to address future
potential COVID-19 outbreaks. Immunisation appointments can be made
directly with private medical institutions and clinics.
“SINOVAC’s ongoing fight against COVID-19 is based on our
mission to ‘supply vaccines to eliminate human diseases,’” said Yin
Weidong, Chairman, President, and CEO of SINOVAC. “From developing
the COVID-19 vaccine, to obtaining market approvals, from the first
CoronaVac® shipment landing in Hong Kong 800 days ago, to the
rollout of a massive public vaccination program, SINOVAC and Hong
Kong have taken steps together to emerge from the shadows of the
pandemic. Looking forward, SINOVAC remains committed to meeting
public health needs.”
CoronaVac® is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be used in children
from as young as three years old, under the World Health
Organization’s Emergency Use List. As of March 2023, CoronaVac® has
been authorized for use in more than 60 countries, regions, and
international organizations. The cumulative global supply exceeds
2.9 billion doses.
Several published studies have shown that CoronaVac® has a good
safety profile for healthy people, as well as for people with
special health conditions, effectively reducing severe illness and
deaths related to COVID-19. During the outbreak of the omicron
variant in Hong Kong, adults who had been vaccinated with three
doses showed more than 90% protection against serious or fatal
illness. The vaccine’s effectiveness against moderate to severe
disease has been shown to be as high as 95.8% in children aged 3 to
18, who were given two doses.
Hospitalization and the long-term effects of COVID-19 can be
serious, particularly among children, underscoring the need for
accessible and affordable vaccinations and boosters.
During the fifth wave of the pandemic in Hong Kong in 2022,
researchers at the University of Hong Kong analyzed 1,144 cases of
children aged 11 or younger who were hospitalized due to COVID-191.
The analysis found that two deaths (0.2%) out of 1,144 cases during
the initial omicron wave were recorded; twenty-one (1.8%) required
pediatric ICU admission, and the relative risk was higher for
omicron than the influenza virus. The number of neurological
complications was 15% for omicron, which was higher than the
influenza and parainfluenza viruses.
The enduring consequences of post-COVID conditions, including
multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C) and long COVID, can
result in persistent health issues for children such as central
nervous system damage, impaired memory, and insomnia, even if they
recover from the initial infection. It is crucial to acknowledge
that the impact on children's health should not be
underestimated.
“In order to reduce the risk of infection among children and to
keep in consideration that the majority of children do not belong
to the priority group for free booster shots, SINOVAC has come up
with a vaccine donation plan,” said Helen Yang, Chief Business
Officer of SINOVAC. “In its early stage, we plan to provide
thousands of free doses of CoronaVac® for children aged 3 to 12 in
Hong Kong, including local and non-local residents. SINOVAC is
actively seeking opportunities for collaboration and has been in
discussions with organizations in Hong Kong to explore the
feasibility of free vaccination. We hope to bring this benefit to
the local community as soon as possible.”
Some regions, including most markets in Europe and America,
currently do not have the supply of inactivated COVID-19 vaccines
for children., which leaves parents who prefer the safety and
effectiveness of inactivated vaccines with limited options. SINOVAC
is addressing these concerns by supplying the private market in
Hong Kong with their inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, thus offering a
viable solution for these patients.
Date
Event
January 28, 2020
SINOVAC established and launched a new
COVID-19 vaccine research and development project
June 13, 2020
SINOVAC announced a Phase I/II clinical
study of its new COVID-19 vaccine, showing the vaccine was safe and
effective in producing neutralizing antibodies
February 16, 2021
Professor Lau Chak-sing, Convener of the
Hong Kong Vaccine Advisory Expert Committee, announced the
committee’s review of data for CoronaVac®. Results showed
CoronaVac® benefits outweigh the risks. The committee recommended
the vaccine to the government
February 19, 2021
Within 72 hours after the advisory
committee's recommendation, the first batch of one million doses of
CoronaVac® arrived in Hong Kong from Beijing. Hong Kong
subsequently launched a large-scale COVID-19 vaccination
program
June 2, 2022
CoronaVac® was validated by the World
Health Organization’s Emergency Use List Procedure
February 20, 2022
SINOVAC Foundation donations to Hong Kong
helped local communities in the fight against the COVID-19
pandemic
April 14, 2022
In cooperation with HKU and Gleneagles
Hospital, SINOVAC’s inactivated COVID-19 vaccine (omicron variant)
was approved for clinical trials in Hong Kong
August 4, 2022
Children between the ages of 6 months and
3 years old were eligible for receiving CoronaVac®. To help the
public complete their vaccinations as soon as possible, Hong Kong
had opened up multiple new vaccination centers.
December 16, 2022
CoronaVac® was fully registered in Hong
Kong under the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance Cap 138. It is one of
the first COVID-19 vaccines approved for official registration in
Hong Kong
May 10, 2023
SINOVAC announced the supply of the
inactivated COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac® (original strain) to Hong
Kong’s private market, with plans to donate free COVID-19 vaccines
to children
[1] HKSAR news.gov.hk: Professor Lo Chung Mo’s Chinese article
dated 15 Sept 2022.
https://www.news.gov.hk/chi/2022/09/20220915/20220915_145920_647.html
About SINOVAC
Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (SINOVAC) is a China-based
biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the R&D,
manufacturing, and commercialization of vaccines that protect
against human infectious diseases.
SINOVAC's product portfolio includes vaccines against COVID-19,
enterovirus 71 (EV71) infected Hand-Foot-Mouth disease (HFMD),
hepatitis A, varicella, influenza, poliomyelitis, pneumococcal
disease, and mumps.
The COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac®, has been approved for use in
more than 60 countries and regions worldwide. The hepatitis A
vaccine, Healive®, passed WHO prequalification requirements in
2017. The EV71 vaccine, Inlive®, is an innovative vaccine under
"Category 1 Preventative Biological Products" and was
commercialized in China in 2016. In 2022, SINOVAC's Sabin-strain
inactivated polio vaccine (sIPV) and varicella vaccine were
prequalified by the WHO.
SINOVAC was the first company to be granted approval for its
H1N1 influenza vaccine Panflu.1®, which has supplied the Chinese
government's vaccination campaign and stockpiling program. The
Company is also the only supplier of the H5N1 pandemic influenza
vaccine, Panflu®, to the Chinese government stockpiling
program.
SINOVAC continually dedicates itself to new vaccine R&D,
with more combination vaccine products in its pipeline, and
constantly explores global market opportunities. SINOVAC plans to
conduct more extensive and in-depth trade and cooperation with
additional countries, and business and industry organizations.
For more information, please see the Company’s website at
www.sinovac.com.
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Sinovac Biotech Ltd. PR Team pr@sinovac.com
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