A staff member checks tags on vials of COVID-19 vaccine at a packing line of Sinovac Life Sciences Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec 23, 2020.Photo:Xinhua

A study of the University of Hong Kong revealed that three shots of CoronaVac offered approximately 98 percent protection against death or severe illness in people aged 60 and above in the city, underscoring the importance of boosters for the group, producer Sinovac told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

Specifically, after the three-dose booster vaccination for people aged 60 and above, the effective rate of CoronaVac against severe illness was 97.9 percent, and that of the BioNTech vaccine was 98.0 percent, according to a statement Sinovac sent to the Global Times.  

The effective rates in preventing death of three shots of Sinovac and BioNTech were 98.3 percent and 98.1 percent respectively, read the statement. 

The study also showed that for people aged 60 and above who have received two doses of vaccines, the effective rates of Sinovac and BioNTech in preventing severe illness were 72.2 percent and 89.6 percent, respectively; the effective rates in preventing death were 77.4% and 92.3%, respectively, according to the statement.

Real-world studies have confirmed the effectiveness of China's inactivated vaccine, and its safety advantages cannot be ignored. It can avoid relatively serious adverse reactions such as a large number of fever, myocarditis, and acute allergic reactions following mRNA vaccines, read the statement.

The findings, which analyzed patients hospitalized during the ongoing outbreak in Hong Kong, demonstrated the importance of promoting vaccination among the elderly, the statement noted.

China is pushing COVID-19 vaccination for the elderly, especially for people aged 80 and above as clinical data showed 65 percent of the severe COVID-19 cases in China are people aged 60 and above, and 65 percent of the severely ill seniors are not vaccinated, officials from the National Health Commission (NHC) recently revealed.

The spread of Omicron variant has brought greater harm to seniors as the number of deaths and severe cases of non-vaccinated seniors in some countries have hit the highest level, and it's very necessary for seniors to complete vaccination, and also receive a booster shot, experts said. 

According to data revealed by the NHC recently, more than 1.24 billion Chinese, or nearly 88 percent of China's total population, have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. But as to the vaccination of the elderly, about 52 million among all the 264 million people aged 60 and above in China are not fully vaccinated, most of whom are above 80. Only 50.7 percent are vaccinated.  

Vaccination among the Chinese people aged 60 and above is comparatively low, and authorities will continue to enhance measures to promote vaccination among the group as it is important to protect the group from the virus, officials noted.