CanSinoBIO's vaccine Photo: VCG

Chinese producer CanSinoBIO's COVID-19 vaccine has shown to provide both a high degree of safety and immunity response in recipients aged between 6 and 17, a new report shows. 

CanSinoBIO said on Sunday on its official WeChat account that they have revealed the first safety and immunogenicity data on its recombinant adenovirus type-5 (Ad5)-vectored COVID-19 vaccine, which showed that one low-dose shot of the vaccine - 0.3 milliliter for 6-17 aged participants while 0.5 milliliter for adults - can trigger high level of immunity response for recipients aged between 6 and 17.

The data was collected from a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial with 430 participants. It was published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases magazine on Wednesday. 

The report concluded that data showed that the Ad5-vectored COVID-19 vaccine with a single dose was safe and induced robust immune responses in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years.     

To date, Chinese authorities have approved three inactivated COVID-19 vaccines for the underage group: two developed by Sinopharm and one by Sinovac. However, based on a gradual vaccination strategy, shots now are only provided to people aged 12 and above.

As of September 15, about 170 million shots have been administered in China on about 95.3 million children ages between 12 and 17, officials revealed.    

Recent outbreaks in East China's Fujian Province, which have seen dozes of infections of elementary school students, have sparked concerns over vaccination rates for the group. 

The Fujian epidemic, in the eyes of many, represents appropriate timing for China to expand vaccination to children aged 3-12, experts said.

Wang Huaqing, chief immunologist of China's CDC, previously had called for more people at the vaccine-accessible age range to get vaccinated as soon as possible. He also suggested expansion of vaccination to children under 12. 

When reached by the Global Times on Sunday, the company said there is no further information regarding the application of the vaccine for younger groups which can be currently disclosed.