China’s CoronaVac safe for use in children, immune response better than in adults

New Delhi, June 29: A vaccine against CoronaVac, developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac, has ben found safe for children and adolescents which will play an important role in curbing the COVID-19 pandemic.

A study published in the recent edition of the peer-reviewed journal Lancet Infectious Diseases has sess the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of a candidate COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac, containing inactivated SARS-CoV-2, in children and adolescents aged 3-17 years.

The study conducted on 550 young people, to whom two doses of the vaccine were found to generate a strong antibody response among children and adolescents aged 3-17 years.

More than 96 per cent of children who received two doses of the vaccine - manufactured by Sinovac - developed antibodies against Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

According to the study, more than 96 per cent of children and adolescents who received two doses of the vaccine developed antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

CoronaVac was well tolerated and safe, and induced humoral responses in children and adolescents aged 3-17 years.

The paper claimed: "Most adverse reactions were mild and moderate in severity. Injection site pain was the most frequently reported event (73 [13%] of 550 participants), occurring in 36 (16%) of 219 participants in the 1·5μg group, 35 (16%) of 217 in the 3·0μg group, and two (2%) in the placebo group. Most of these reactions occurred within 7 days after vaccination and participants recovered within 48 hours

Among the two doses evaluated, the neutralising antibody titres induced by a 3·0 μg dose were higher than those of the 1·5 μg dose. The results support the use of 3·0 μg dose with a two-immunisation schedule for further studies in children and adolescents.

On the basis of the results of previous trials and considering the relative low weight of this population, two different doses - 1·5μg (micrograms) and 3·0μg - were adopted in this study. Two doses were delivered via injection, 28 days apart.

The 550 trial participants were recruited into the study between 31 October and 30 December 2020. Children were given varying vaccine doses of different strength to test immune response and side effects.