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BEIJING: A COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Beijing company linked to Sinopharm has a 79.34 percent protection rate against the disease, the company said in a statement on Wednesday (December 30).
The Beijing Institute of Biological Products said it had applied to the National Medical Products Administration for conditional approval of the inactivated coronavirus vaccine, a type of inoculation that uses particles of the pathogen.
The result is based on an interim analysis of data from its phase III clinical trial, but the company did not provide details such as the number of infections in the trial.
The efficacy of the Chinese candidate vaccine is less than that of rival coups developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, but it is a potential advance in the battle to stop the pandemic in Asia.
READ: China Sinopharm COVID-19 Vaccine Taken By About 1 Million People In Emergency Use
China has been racing to develop its own COVID-19 vaccines, and five are already in large-scale phase 3 clinical trials. But it has struggled to gain international trust for its vaccine candidates, hampered by a lack of transparency in test results.
It has also been slow to complete Phase 3 tests, which had to be carried out overseas due to China’s success in slowing the spread of COVID-19 within its own borders.
Chinese officials have repeatedly assured the public of the safety of the vaccines, claiming there have been no serious adverse reactions.
More than 1 million people have already been vaccinated with unapproved vaccines in China under its emergency use program, including front-line health workers, employees of state-owned companies and workers planning to travel abroad.
READ: Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are poised to fill the gap, but will they work?
The United Arab Emirates approved a Sinopharm vaccine earlier this month, becoming the first foreign country to approve a COVID-19 vaccine developed in China.
Beijing has pledged to share the vaccine at a fair cost, a potential boost for poorer Asian countries that are otherwise dependent on the limited distribution offered by the COVAX scheme.
“China is firmly committed that once China’s new coronavirus vaccines are completed and put into use, they will serve as a global public product and be supplied to the world at a fair and reasonable price,” the spokesman said on Friday. from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian.
“We will also give priority to developing countries for vaccines. This will be done in a variety of ways, including through donations and aid.”
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