EU regulator examines Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine

BRUSSELS

The European Medicine Agency (EMA) announced Tuesday that it had started the review of COVID-19 vaccines developed by the pharma company Sinovac.

The EU drugs agency’s human medicine committee began the rolling review of the Chinese jab based on preliminary results from laboratory and clinical studies, the EMA wrote in a press release.

The EU regulator will assess if the Chinese jab’s benefits outweigh the risks, and the vaccine’s compliance with EU standards on medicine effectiveness, safety and quality.

The rolling review, which was requested by the producer, is meant to prepare and eventually shorten the ordinary authorization if the pharma company officially applies for an EU marketing license.

However, the EMA said it could not predict a timeline for completing the assessment.

The European Commission suggested on Monday to allow non-EU citizens to travel to the bloc if they are fully immunized by an EMA-approved vaccine.

The proposal is expected to be adopted by EU member states by June at the earliest.

If EMA authorizes the jabs, foreigners vaccinated by Sinovac would be able to travel to the EU without further restrictions in the future.