Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine effective in older people: Moroccan health ministry

RABAT - The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is effective in older people and Morocco will continue using it to vaccinate the population aged 60 and over, authorities said Monday.

Available data from the Moroccan vaccination campaign showed no increase in adverse effects on the vaccinated people aged 60 and over compared with others receiving the Sinopharm vaccine, Moroccan Health Ministry said in a statement.

So far, only eight people in this age group have reported minor adverse effects after receiving Sinopharm doses, which is equivalent to 2.2 cases per 10,000, it said.

A phase III clinical trial of the Sinopharm vaccine, partly carried out in Morocco, included people aged 60 and over and showed good tolerance in this population, the statement said.

The phase III clinical trial showed an overall efficacy of 86 percent and good safety, it added.

Morocco launched a nationwide vaccination campaign at 3,000 locations on Jan. 29 after securing acquisition of 66 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines from China's Sinopharm and Britain's Oxford University and AstraZeneca.