COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Efficacy of China's Sinovac Candidate Uncertain, 'Trial Results' of Brazil and Turkey Add to Confusion
In Brazil, officials claim that the vaccine is "more than 50 percent effective". While 50 percent is still considered as a threshold to approve the vaccine, the efficacy rate would be way lower than the candidates of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech which have shown more than 95 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection.
Beijing, December 25: The vaccine against COVID-19 being developed by China's Sinovac BioTech is undergoing late-stage trials in China and Indonesia, whereas, the early results of clinical tests have been released by Turkey and Brazil. The efficacy of the vaccine remains uncertain, and the portion of data shared by Ankara and Brasilia have added to the confusion.
While Turkey has claimed that the vaccine is 91.25 percent effective in preventing coronavirus, the results are viewed through a prism of suspicion as the conclusion is drawn on basis of 29 cases. The low number of subjects involved in the trial are unlikely to match the global standards. COVID-19 Vaccination in UK: Over 600,000 Citizens Receive First Dose of Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine.
In Brazil, officials claim that the vaccine is "more than 50 percent effective". While 50 percent is still considered as a threshold to approve the vaccine, the efficacy rate would be way lower than the candidates of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech which have shown more than 95 percent efficacy in preventing COVID-19 infection.
Sao Paulo State Health Secretary Jean Gorinshteyn, the only major official to comment on the Sinovac trials, said the exact rate of efficacy is yet to be determined but it would be below 90 percent.
“We don’t know how much more than 50 percent it was, whether it was 60%, 70 percent or 80 percent, but it’s at levels that allow us to reduce the impact of the disease on our population," he told Brazil’s CBN Radio.
Sinovac, despite trailing behind Moderna, Oxford-AstraZeneca and Pfizer-BioNTech, is being keenly watched by developing nations. A likely lower rate, combined with ease in storage - as the Chinese vaccine does not necessitate deep freeze storage - would be more viable for distribution in third-world countries.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 25, 2020 07:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).