A Sinovac employee holds the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine in his hands at the company's lab in Beijing, Dec 25, 2020. (XINHUA)

BEIJING - Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday that its unit’s COVID-19 vaccine has been formally approved for use by the general public by China’s medical products regulator.

It marks the second COVID-19 vaccine green-lighted for public use in China, after a shot developed by a Beijing institute affiliated to state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December

Sinovac said it received conditional commercial approval from the National Medical Products Administration for its COVID-19 vaccine in China Friday. 

It marks the second COVID-19 vaccine green-lighted for public use in China, after a shot developed by a Beijing institute affiliated to state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December.

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Prior to the approvals, both vaccines have already been used in China’s vaccination program mainly targeting key groups deemed to be at higher risk of exposure to the virus.

Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay, and Laos have granted emergency authorizations for the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Sciences, Sinovac said in a news release.

The approval is based on the two-month results from late-stage clinical trials overseas, from which the final analysis data has not yet been obtained, Sinovac said.

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