Above photo: Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan and State Councilor Wang Yong inspect the work on COVID-19 vaccine development and production at Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd. in Beijing, China, 02 December 2020. EFE/EPA.
China developed a COVID-19 vaccine with “outstanding efficacy data,” said a report published on the Science magazine website on Wednesday.
The Science magazine website has just published a report praising a Covid-19 vaccine China has developed and referred to its “outstanding efficacy data” as a relevant feature, compared to the other vaccines out in the market. The vaccine, developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (CNPG), had been under phase III trials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) since June, involving 31,000 volunteers from 125 countries and regions.
The UAE announced on Wednesday the official registration of the Chinese company’s COVID-19 vaccine. According to a statement issued by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention, the interim analysis of the phase III trials indicates that the Chinese vaccine offers 86 percent efficacy against COVID-19 infections.
The vaccine is also reported to have a 99 percent seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibodies and 100 percent effective in preventing moderate and severe disease cases. Also, it shows no serious safety concerns.
The report on the Science website, entitled “Great efficacy claimed for another COVID-19 vaccine, this one from China,” said the company’s vaccine is the fifth operational COVID-19 vaccine and that it is using an entirely different technology from the others.
Great Efficacy Claimed for Another COVID-19 Vaccine, This One from China – via @ScienceMagazine https://t.co/9fwPfYCt9T
—#vaxnews #vaccines #COVID19 #CovidVaccine— Vaccinate Your Family (@Vaxyourfam) December 10, 2020
According to the report, in contrast to the CNPG’s inactivated virus candidate, the four other COVID-19 vaccines that have reported efficacy data to rely on the surface protein of SARS-CoV-2, the cause of the disease, to trigger immune responses. Those vaccines, none made in China, use messenger RNA that codes for the surface protein or stitch the gene for it into putatively harmless adenoviral vectors, said the report.
“If CNPG’s vaccine indeed prevented 86% of infections and 100% of symptomatic disease, it would stand out as the best efficacy data yet,” said the article.
The Chinese-developed vaccine was granted Emergency Use Authorization in September by the UAE health authorities to protect frontline workers most at risk of COVID-19.
#FromTheSouth News Bits | China leads worldwide research and development of COVID-19 vaccine. pic.twitter.com/uwi5I0K2Jn
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) October 22, 2020