Hanoi (VNA) – Malaysian authorised agencies has issued conditional approval for use of the CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech as booster shots for those aged 18 and above.

In a recent statement, the Ministry of Health of Malaysia said that the Sinovac booster shot will be administered for targeted groups from three to six months after receiving the first two shots.

The approval requires that the information about the quality, safety and effectiveness of the vaccine must be monitored and evaluated regularly based on the latest data available, it said.

Both the finished products of Sinovac vaccines imported from China and those manufactured by Malaysian pharmaceutical company Pharmaniaga have been used in the country's national immunisation programme after receiving approval. Some 78.5 percent of the population have received at least one dose and 76.2 percent are fully vaccinated.

Meanwhile, Indonesian State-run pharmaceutical firm PT Bio Farma said that it will launch clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine to provide booster shots to Indonesian people in early 2022 with the cooperation with China’s Sinovac.

Bio Farma’s head of service operations Erwin Setiawan said on November 18 that the trials aims to evaluate the efficiency of the vaccine in stimulating the immune system of human body.

Apart from Sinovac, PT Bio Farma has coordinated with another Chinese firm, Sinopharm, in improving its production capacity.

Erwin said that the Indonesian government is working with the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) to determine the cost of the COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. But it can be sure that the vaccine will not be provided free.

Previously, Indonesia’s Health Ministry said that the booster vaccine shots will be administered only after more than 50 percent of the target recipients are fully vaccinated./.
VNA