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BEIJING – Chinese lab Sinovac Biotech said Monday that its Covid-19 vaccine appears to be safe in older people, based on preliminary results from its Phase 1 and 2 tests, although the induced immune responses were moderately weaker. than in young adults.
The Sinovac candidate is being tested in Brazil in its Phase 3 in association with the Butantan Institute, linked to the São Paulo government. 20 thousand doses were brought to the country, which are being applied to up to 9 thousand volunteers in São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro and the Federal District.
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Health officials around the world worry that the experimental vaccines will safely protect the elderly, whose immune systems generally react less strongly to vaccines, against a virus that has killed nearly 890,000 people on the planet.
Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine candidate did not cause serious side effects in the combined Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials launched in May, which involved 421 participants aged at least 60 years, said Sinovac media representative Liu Peicheng. The full results have not yet been published.
Four of the eight vaccines in phase 3 trials globally are from Chinese companies.
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Of the three groups of participants who received two injections of low, medium, and high doses of CoronaVac respectively, more than 90% experienced significant increases in antibody levels, while levels were slightly lower in the elderly than in older subjects. young boys. But, according to the company representative, this result is within expectations.
CoronaVac, tested in Brazil and Indonesia in the final testing stage to assess whether it is effective and safe enough to gain regulatory approvals for mass use, has already been awarded to tens of thousands of people, including around 90% of employees at Sinovac and their families, as part of China’s emergency vaccination plan to protect people facing high risk of infection.
The potential vaccine can remain stable for up to three years in storage, Liu said, which could offer Sinovac some advantage in distributing the vaccine to regions where refrigerated transport is not guaranteed.
