Kathmandu June 8 (Agencies) : The Chinese government has allowed children over the age of 3 to be vaccinated against coronavirus.

China has authorised the emergency use of CoronaVac, a COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Chinese firm Sinovac, for children aged between 3 and 17 years, Sinovac Chairman and CEO Yin Weidong said.

“But when the vaccine will be put into (emergency) use, and starting from what age in the group has yet to be decided,” he was quoted as saying by Global Times on Sunday.

According to the Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac, the Department of Health has approved the use of the against coronavirus vaccine in children over the age of three.

The decision by China comes at a time when the third wave of corona virus is projected to put children at the highest risk.

The 15 vaccines used so far were all for adults over 18 years of age. Although some countries allow vaccinations for children between the ages of 12 and 18, China is the first country to allow vaccinations for such young children.

So far, little research has been done on the side effects of vaccines in children. Yin Weidong CEO of Sinovac, told CCTV: “The two-phase test we performed on children between the ages of 3 and 17 found the vaccine to be just as effective as those over 18.”

At present, China is conducting a nationwide vaccination campaign where people over the age of 18 are being vaccinated. China, which is vaccinating 14 million people every day, aims to have 560 million people vaccinated by the end of this month.

The Wold Health Organisation (WHO) has granted approval on June 1 to China’s second COVID-19 vaccine, Sinovac.

Earlier, WHO granted a similar approval to China’s Sinopharm. Besides administering the vaccines at home, China has been donating and exporting the vaccines to number of countries including Nepal.

Similarly, Nepal also gave permission for commercial import and use of Sinovac vaccine in Nepal only last Friday.