Conflicting results for “Sinopharm” between Beijing and Abu Dhabi … and a Chinese official explains why

An executive from China’s National Biotechnology Group told state media that the mixed results of the Sinopharma vaccine, which was launched separately in China and the United Arab Emirates, are real and correct.

And China on Thursday approved the first national vaccine against the emerging corona virus for public use, which is the vaccine developed by the state-owned company Sinopharm, after the developer said the vaccine was 79.34 percent effective, according to a mid-term analysis of clinical trials in the later stages.

This number is less than the 86 percent percentage that the UAE announced on December 9 for the same vaccine.

Yang Xiaoming, president of Sinopharm’s biotechnology company, said that countries have certain differences in their criteria and procedures for diagnosing patients.

“There were differences in clinical trial data between China and other countries where clinical trials were conducted, such as the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” Yang said, quoted by the Global Times, in a report published on Thursday. “Both proportions are correct.”

But he did not provide further details on the data.

Yang said that China’s National Biotechnology Group did not participate in the analysis or review of clinical trial data from the countries where the clinical trials were conducted.

He explained that clinical trials of the vaccine included 60,000 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 60.

The Chinese vaccine has faced much criticism due to a lack of transparency and the inability to independently confirm the accuracy of clinical trial results.