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RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazilian researchers said on Wednesday (December 23) that the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech is more than 50 percent effective based on trial data, but again withheld full results at the company’s request. , which raised doubts about transparency.
Brazil is the first country to complete a late-stage trial of the vaccine, called CoronaVac, but the release of the results, first scheduled for early December, has now been delayed three times.
The latest delay is a blow to Beijing, which has been racing to catch up with Western drug makers, and will add to criticism that Chinese vaccine makers have lacked transparency.
It is also likely to stoke growing skepticism towards the Chinese vaccine in Brazil, just as the virus returns to life. President Jair Bolsonaro, a coronavirus skeptic who has said he will not take a COVID-19 vaccine, has repeatedly questioned the Chinese vaccine based on its “origins.” A poll earlier this month showed that half of Brazilians now reject it.
Officials at the Butantan Institute of the São Paulo state government declined to specify the efficacy rate of a trial they conducted with 13,000 volunteers, citing contractual obligations with Sinovac.
However, they said that the vaccine was effective enough against the new coronavirus to be approved for emergency use in Brazil. Health regulator Anvisa has stipulated an efficacy rate of at least 50 percent for vaccines in the pandemic.
“Our goal was for it to be above 50 percent. If it were 51 percent, it would be important to us, especially since we are experiencing a moment of health crisis,” said Sao Paulo Health Secretary Jean Gorinchteyn. For us it would be a moment of celebration ”.
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Officials said they were asked by Sinovac to delay releasing accurate data on the vaccine’s efficacy for up to 15 days from Wednesday as the company consolidates data from global trials.
Sinovac did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Butantan director Dimas Covas said none of the vaccinated volunteers in Brazil’s CoronaVac trial developed a severe case of COVID-19, contributing to optimism about its efficacy.
“Not having serious cases is very good. That will be very useful to combat this pandemic,” said immunologist Cristina Bonorino, who is part of the scientific committee of the Brazilian Society of Immunology.
“But it hurts the image of your vaccine to have this hesitation,” he added. “They shouldn’t have flaunted something that they didn’t report in the end. That’s the biggest problem.”
POSITIVE RESULTS FOR RIVALS
Sinovac would be the second Chinese vaccine maker to produce late-stage clinical trial results, after the United Arab Emirates said earlier this month that a vaccine from a unit of Beijing-based China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) had 86%. efficiency.
Rival products developed by AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Moderna Inc have produced positive results.
The Pfizer treatment, developed with German partner BioNTech, was the first fully tested COVID-19 injection to be administered, and has already started its rollout in the UK, US and Canada.
China has been administering experimental coronavirus vaccines, including the vaccine developed by Sinovac, to high-risk groups in the country since July under an emergency use program.
Sinovac has secured supply agreements for its vaccine with several countries, including Indonesia, Turkey, Brazil, Chile and Singapore, and is in talks with the Philippines and Malaysia for a possible sale.
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