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Sinopharm has approved a coronavirus vaccine in China; their studies have shown an efficacy of 79.34%.
The China National Health Products Administration has approved China’s first COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm. Reported by The Global Times.
The vaccine was developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products in China National Biotec Group (subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm).
The move came a day after the institute announced that the vaccine was 79.34% effective, based on interim results of phase III clinical trials.
CNBG chief Yang Xiaoming said he was vaccinated with his vaccine in March along with hundreds of his colleagues. They tested antibody levels six months after vaccination and the results were good, he said.
Yang also noted that the safety and efficacy data collected so far in phase III clinical trials have worked better than expected.
In addition, he said, the vaccine has relatively mild side effects: pain or redness at the injection site, fever, muscle pain, nausea and headache.
The Conversation article states that in China four manufacturers developing at least five vaccines against COVID-19. Some of them can be stored in conventional cold rooms, which will greatly simplify transportation.
Sinopharm, according to the publication, is developing two inactivated coronavirus vaccines. Both vaccines have passed the first and second phase of clinical trials with promising results.
Chinese companies CanSino Biologics and Anhui Zhifei Longcom are also developing their own vaccines. Another manufacturer, Sinovac Biotech, is developing a coronavirus vaccine called CoronaVac. The drug is already is in the third phase global clinical trials in Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey.
In July, China launched an emergency vaccination program for key workers and others at high risk of contracting the coronavirus. As of December 15, more than 4.5 million doses had been administered using at least three different products, two developed by Sinopharm and one by Sinovac Biotech, Reuters reported.
An outbreak of coronavirus infection began in late 2019 in China. March 11, 2020 World Health Organization declared the spread of the coronavirus a pandemic.
According to the American Johns Hopkins University, 95.9 thousand cases of infection were confirmed in China, 4.8 thousand people died.
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