Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday (Feb 6) that its unit's COVID-19 vaccine has been formally approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator.

It marks the second COVID-19 vaccine green-lighted for public use in China, after a shot developed by a Beijing institute affiliated to state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December.

Both vaccines have already been used in China's vaccination programme mainly targeting key groups deemed to be at higher risk of exposure to the virus.

Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Uruguay and Laos have granted emergency authorisation for the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Life Sciences, Sinovac said in a news release.

Approval of the two-dose regimen by China's National Medical Products Administration is based on the results from two months of late-stage clinical trials overseas, from which the final analysis data has not yet been obtained, Sinovac said.

Sinovac Life Sciences is expected to be able to produce more than 1 billion doses per year in the form of bulk ingredient by February, it said in a statement.

It is expanding its capacity to fill vaccine into vials and syringes, which currently lags its vaccine manufacturing capacity.