SINOVAC’s CoronaVac Answers Hong Kong’s Need for Self-Pay COVID-19 Vaccines

Sinovac Biotech Ltd. ("SINOVAC" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: SVA), a leading provider of biopharmaceutical products in China, today announced it will provide its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, CoronaVac (original strains), to self-paying groups in Hong Kong. Additionally, the company will collaborate with local charity groups to provide donations, giving more children in Hong Kong access to free vaccines to protect against COVID-19.

On Mar 31, 2023, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced that from April 20 onwards, high risk groups shall be able to receive free doses of the COVID-19 vaccines whereas the low risk groups, including children, are only able to receive their vaccines via the private market through self-pay method.. SINOVAC’s provision of CoronaVac shall fulfill the needs of this low-risk groups, while helping to address future potential COVID-19 outbreaks. Immunisation appointments can be made directly with private medical institutions and clinics.

“SINOVAC’s ongoing fight against COVID-19 is based on our mission to ‘supply vaccines to eliminate human diseases,’” said Yin Weidong, Chairman, President, and CEO of SINOVAC. “From developing the COVID-19 vaccine, to obtaining market approvals, from the first CoronaVac shipment landing in Hong Kong 800 days ago, to the rollout of a massive public vaccination program, SINOVAC and Hong Kong have taken steps together to emerge from the shadows of the pandemic. Looking forward, SINOVAC remains committed to meeting public health needs.”

CoronaVac is the first COVID-19 vaccine to be used in children from as young as three years old, under the World Health Organization’s Emergency Use List. As of March 2023, CoronaVac has been authorized for use in more than 60 countries, regions, and international organizations. The cumulative global supply exceeds 2.9 billion doses.

Several published studies have shown that CoronaVac has a good safety profile for healthy people, as well as for people with special health conditions, effectively reducing severe illness and deaths related to COVID-19. During the outbreak of the omicron variant in Hong Kong, adults who had been vaccinated with three doses showed more than 90% protection against serious or fatal illness. The vaccine’s effectiveness against moderate to severe disease has been shown to be as high as 95.8% in children aged 3 to 18, who were given two doses.