Solution Group Bhd (SGB), the Asean manufacturing partner of CanSino Biologics Inc, said in a statement that the vaccine was approved for adults aged 18 years and older, regardless of the type of vaccine they received during their earlier Covid-19 vaccination.

The statement also said that Convidecia would be given as a booster dose after at least three months of recipients receiving the second dose of their primary vaccination.

“It is also the first and only Covid-19 vaccine from China to be included in the heterologous vaccination programme in Malaysia that can be administered as a mix-and-match with both Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccines,” the statement said.

In the same statement, SGB’s deputy group managing director Dr Mohd Nazlee Kamal said recent studies in China showed that usage of Convidecia as a heterologous booster, via either intramuscular injection or using the inhaled version, generated greater neutralising antibody responses.

In addition, he said the vaccine’s safety profile in real-life usage was also backed by the Mexican health authorities’ Events Supposedly Attributable to Vaccination or Immunisation (Esavi) report released recently.