KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 ― The Health Ministry has given its conditional approval for the use of the CoronaVac Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents.
The Chinese brand is the second Covid-19 vaccine approved for use on children aged 12 onwards. It is produced by China’s Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd and Malaysia’s Pharmaniaga Lifesciences Sdn Bhd.
Currently, the government is using US brand Pfizer for its adolescent inoculation drive that started last month.
“CoronaVac was previously given conditional registration for use among individuals 18 years of age and older.
“This is the second Covid-19 vaccine approved for use in adolescents after the same approval was given to the Cominarty vaccine, manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech in June 2021,” Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said in a statement today.
He said CoronaVac is suggested for use on adolescents with comorbidities, allergies and for those who cannot receive the Pfizer brand.
“Evaluation for the use of CoronaVac in adolescents with comorbidities will continue once sufficient data is submitted,” Dr Noor Hisham added.
Malaysia has been ramping up its Covid-19 vaccination that started in February.
The Health Ministry’s latest figures as of yesterday show that 94.2 per cent or 22,042,703 adults in the country have received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
For adolescents, 52,774 or 1.7 per cent those aged between 12 and 17 have completed their vaccination.
