Conflicting data on the efficacy of the Chinese Covid vaccine are ‘real and valid’



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A worker inspects syringes of a vaccine produced by Sinovac at its factory in Beijing last September. (AP Image)

BEIJING: The different efficacy results of a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine launched separately in China and the United Arab Emirates are real and valid, an executive from China National Biotec Group (CNBG) told state media.

China on Thursday approved its first Covid-19 vaccine for general public use, a vaccine developed by a state-backed Sinopharm affiliate, after the developer said the vaccine showed an efficacy of 79.34% according to an analysis. intermediate clinical trials in advanced stage.

That rate is lower than the 86% rate for the same vaccine reported by the United Arab Emirates on December 9.

Countries have certain differences in their standards and procedures for diagnosing patients, and the final results of the Covid-19 case identification were different, Yang Xiaoming, president of the CNBG of Sinopharm’s unit, told Global Times, a tabloid published by the People’s Daily, the official newspaper. of the ruling Communist Party of China.

“Therefore, there were differences between the full data from various countries that we reviewed and the protection rate data previously evaluated by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain,” Yang said, according to the Global Times, in a report published Thursday.

“But these two results are real and valid,” Yang said, without elaborating on the data.

CNBG did not participate in the analysis or review of clinical trial data published by regulators in the countries where its vaccine was being tested, Yang said.

The vaccines, developed by the Beijing Institute of Biologicals, CNBG unit, along with another candidate from a Wuhan-based CNBG unit, are being tested in phase III clinical trials outside of China.

The trials for CNBG candidates have recruited more than 60,000 participants between the ages of 18 and 60, Yang said.

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