Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine called CoronaVac has been approved for children aged six months to three years in Hong Kong from Thursday, the Beijing-based biopharmaceutical product provider said on Wednesday.

The health authorities of the Hong Kong special administrative region have made the decision based on clinical trials and studies of vaccination for local children and adolescents, the company said.

The vaccination schedule for this age group follows the same schedule of older children. Three doses of vaccines will be used, with the first two doses given 28 days apart followed by a third dose at least 3 months after the second dose, and there is no restriction on the application for immunosuppressed children.

liuzhihua@chinadaily.com.cn