WHO clears China's CanSino COVID vaccine for emergency use
ABC News
The World Health Organization has granted an emergency use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine made by China’s CanSino Biologics
GENEVA -- The World Health Organization said Thursday that it has granted an emergency use authorization for the coronavirus vaccine made by China's CanSino Biologics, the 11th such shot to receive the green light.
The U.N. health agency said the single-dose CanSino vaccine was found to be about 92% effective against severe COVID-19 and 64% effective in preventing people from getting symptoms of the disease. WHO's expert vaccine group recommended the vaccine for everyone age 18 and over.
The CanSino vaccine uses a harmless virus called an adenovirus to deliver the spike protein of the coronavirus into the body, which then prompts an immune response. The technology is similar to vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca, which use different adenoviruses.
Last year, China's top infectious diseases official acknowledged that the country's homegrown vaccines offered low protection against COVID-19 and that mixing them with booster doses of the novel messenger RNA vaccines might be needed.
