A study in the recent edition of Lancet Infectious Diseases has revealed that a higher dose of China’s CoronaVac vaccine was well tolerated and safe, and induced neutralizing antibody responses in children and adolescents aged 3-17 years.
The clinical trial was conducted at the Hebei Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Zanhuang. Two vaccine doses were shown to generate a strong antibody response among children and adolescents between three to 17 years.
The vaccine, which is manufactured by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech was found to develop antibodies against Sars-CoV-2 in over 96 per cent of children who had received both doses.
According to the research, the most common symptom reportedly was pain at the injection site while most adverse symptoms were either mild or moderate.
Qiang Gao of Sinovac Life Sciences has said that they have found CoronaCav to be well tolerated with the strong immune response very encouraging. He added that further studies in other regions where larger and multi-ethnic people are involved could provide valuable data to inform strategies for immunization in children along with adolescents.
As per the results, two 3 microgram vaccine doses for both children and adolescents aged three to 17 years have been recommended by the authors. Moreover, have recognized the drawbacks of the study. For instance, T-cell responses, which are responsible for seeking out as well as killing infected cells, were not addressed.
The double-dosed COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for emergency use in the country among three years old.
