ANKARA (Reuters) – A COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech in China is 91.25% effective, according to provisional data from a final-stage trial in Turkey, a result potentially much better than that reported in a separate trial vaccine in Brazil.
Researchers in Brazil, which is also carrying out a final Phase III test of the vaccine, said on Wednesday that the injection was more than 50% effective, but retained the full results at the company’s request, raising questions about transparency.
Turkish researchers said on Thursday that no major side effects were seen during the test, other than a person who had an allergic reaction. The common adverse effects caused by the vaccine were fever, mild pain and mild fatigue, they said.
The tests in Turkey began on September 14 and included more than 7,000 volunteers, the researchers said, adding that the results announced on Thursday were based on data from 1,322 people.
Sinovac is the first Chinese vaccine manufacturer to release details of clinical trials in an advanced stage, after positive results from rival products developed by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca last month.
Turkish researchers, speaking alongside Health Minister Fahrettin Koca, said 26 of the 29 people infected during the test received placebos, adding that the test will continue until 40 people are infected.
“We are now certain that the vaccine is effective and safe (for use) in the Turkish people,” said Koca, adding that Ankara would use the data to license the vaccine.
He also said that the researchers initially planned to announce the results after 40 people were infected, but that the findings showed that the volunteers had minimal adverse effects after the injection and that it was therefore considered safe.
“Despite being risky, we saw a very clear picture where three people from the PCR (COVID test) tested positive, without fever or breathing problems … We can easily say that despite being risky, those three people went through it very lightly ,” he said.
SHIPPING ARRIVES MONDAY
Turkey agreed to buy 50 million doses of the Sinovac vaccine and receive delivery by December 11, but shipping has been delayed.
Koca said that three million doses will arrive on Monday, adding that Turkey would vaccinate about nine million people in the first group, starting with health professionals.
Sinovac has also signed supply agreements for its vaccine, called CoronaVac, with countries like Indonesia, Brazil, Chile and Singapore, and is negotiating with the Philippines and Malaysia.
CoronaVac was given to tens of thousands of people under an emergency use program that China launched in July, targeting specific groups at high risk of infection.
CoronaVac is based on traditional vaccine technology that uses inactivated coronavirus that cannot replicate in human cells to trigger an immune response.
The vaccines developed by Pfizer / BioNTech and Moderna use a new technology called synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) to activate the immune system against the virus and require much colder storage.
The Pfizer treatment is the first fully tested COVID-19 injection to be administered, with implantation already underway in Great Britain and the United States.
Koca said Turkey would sign an agreement with Pfizer / BioNTech for 4.5 million doses of its vaccine to be delivered by the end of March, with the option to buy an additional 30 million doses later.
On Thursday, the number of deaths from the coronavirus in Turkey increased by 254 to 19,115, according to data from the Ministry of Health, while the total number of COVID-19 infections increased by 18,102.
Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu and Ali Kucukgocmen; Additional reporting by Can Sezer in Istanbul and Roxanne Liu in Beijing; Editing by Alex Richardson, Mark Potter and Nick Macfie