A health worker in Peru prepares a syringe to inoculate a volunteer with the Sinopharm vaccine on December 9.
Photographer: Ernesto Benavides / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Ernesto Benavides / AFP / Getty Images
Vaccine developer with state support China National Biotec Group Co. said that one of its injections is effective in preventing Covid-19 in 79.3% of people, allowing it to apply for authorization to market the inoculation for use in the general population.
Provisional data show that the vaccine, which is already authorized for emergency use in China, is safe and the people who got the vaccines in the trial generated high levels of antibodies, according to one statement posted on the website of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., a subsidiary of Sinopharm, the parent of CNBG.
The vaccine fee – one of two developed by CNBG – meets the minimum 50% standard of effectiveness set by US regulators for emergency vaccine authorization from Covid. However, vaccines using state-of-the-art messenger RNA technology Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. produced much better results, reducing symptomatic Covid cases by more than 90% in giant tests.
The rate announced Wednesday for the injection of CNG is also lower than that reported in tests of the vaccine in the United Arab Emirates, which put the level of protection at 86%.
CNBG, which submitted a request to Chinese regulators for the vaccine last month, could become the first developer outside Russia to see its vaccines available for general public use, underscoring China’s determination to be a major player in supplying vaccines to countries around the world. around the world. Other countries have given the green light to rival Western vaccines for emergency use only.
China is struggling to make the world trust its vaccines
However, China faces the challenge of ensuring that governments and millions of people may have to rely on their vaccines for their safety and effectiveness. Chinese developers have been slow compared to their Western peers in releasing data, risking an erosion of confidence in these candidates as the world puts a laser focus on which vaccines are most successful in fighting the pandemic.
The lack of transparency was evident last week, as tests of a vaccine by Chinese developer Sinovac Biotech Ltd. showed confusing results on exactly how effective it is at protecting people from Covid-19.
A Brazilian official said the Sinovac injection was less than 90% effective, while Turkey said a trial in its country showed a 91% rate. Sinovac is still reconciling the results of the independent phase III tests carried out in Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and Chile, said a person familiar with the tests last week.
Both Sinopharm and Sinovac are betting on successful vaccines to inoculate more people around the world and save lives. Chinese vaccines can also help your home country gain geopolitical influence and restore an image tarnished by criticism of your initial response to the virus.
Global Promise
China has agreed to supply vaccines to Covax, an effort supported by the World Health Organization to supply vaccines to developing countries. Chinese vaccines have the advantage of easier storage and distribution, as they do not need to be frozen – unlike those of Pfizer and Moderna. They can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, facilitating distribution to rural areas and developing countries.
A state-owned pharmaceutical company that holds a dominant share of China’s vaccine market, the CNBG in April was one of the first in the world to bring experimental injections to the crucial final stage of human testing. The company’s research institutes have developed two vaccines using an inactivated version of the virus to stimulate the immune response, an approach widely adopted by many of the existing vaccines used to prevent disease worldwide.
CNBG has vaccine supply agreements with several developing countries, including Malaysia, Brazil, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates, according to public reports compiled by Bloomberg. Leading Western developers, like AstraZeneca Plc and Pfizer, have signed agreements with many more countries.
Over 5.1 million shots fired: Covid19 Vaccine Tracker
Despite the fact that China’s vaccines have not yet received regulatory approval for widespread use, doses have already been given to hundreds of thousands of people in China under an emergency use program in place since mid-year. This has raised concerns among scientists about the potential risks of using injections, the safety and effectiveness of which still need to be studied thoroughly.
About a million Chinese have already received vaccines by December 19, a large part of the more than 5.1 million injections administered so far worldwide, according to data collected by Bloomberg.
– With the help of Emma O’Brien and Claire Che
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