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Coronavirus pandemic
AsiaAustralasia

Coronavirus: Indonesia says China’s Sinovac vaccine 65.3 per cent effective, grants emergency approval

  • Indonesia also became the first country outside China to give the regulatory green light to Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac vaccine
  • Meanwhile, Australia’s Brisbane has lifted its snap lockdown, while Singapore has reported the highest number of imported cases since March 23

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A health worker practises giving an injection during a coronavirus vaccine drill in Bali, Indonesia, on Monday. Photo: AP
Agencies
Indonesia’s food and drug agency on Monday granted emergency use approval to a Covid-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech, as it became the first country outside China to give the regulatory green light to the vaccine.

The authorisation came after interim data from a late-stage human trial in Indonesia showed the vaccine was 65.3 per cent effective, said Penny K. Lukito, who heads the country’s food and drugs regulator BPOM.

“These results meet the requirements of the World Health Organization of a minimum of efficacy of 50 per cent,” she said, noting trial results in Brazil and Turkey.

A Brazil-based trial showed last week that Sinovac’s vaccine candidate is 78 per cent effective while Turkish researchers said in December the vaccine showed 91.25 per cent efficacy based on interim analysis.

Indonesia’s trial involved 1,720 volunteers, Turkey’s 7,371 and Brazil’s more than 10,000.

Indonesia is struggling with the worst Covid-19 outbreak in Southeast Asia and authorities are relying on a vaccine to help alleviate dual health and economic crises ravaging the country. It has reported 836,718 infections and 24,343 deaths.

The country has received 3 million doses of Sinovac’s vaccine, named CoronaVac, and is slated to receive some 122.5 million more that will come in bulks.

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