Sinopharm’s Chinese Covid-19 Vaccine 79% Effective

With various coronavirus vaccines in the making in different countries, China has come up with its vaccine manufactured by China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp. or Sinopharm. According to the claims made by Sinopharm, the phase 3 trials of its coronavirus vaccine are 79% effective. It is to be noted that the percentage of effectiveness of Sinopharm’s vaccine may be low as compared to vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, however, it is a big development to fight against the pandemic in Asia.

China has been racing against many countries to develop its own Covid-19 vaccines for months now. Wednesday morning is the first time data regarding the efficacy of a Chinese vaccine candidate has been released. A Sinopharm subsidiary, Beijing Institute of Biological Products, said, "The protective effectiveness of the Sinopharm CNBG Beijing vaccine against novel coronavirus is 79.34%.” The statement was released as Sinopharma sent its Covid-19 vaccine approval application.

The officials from China have constantly assured the residents of the vaccine’s safety, thereby claiming the absence of adverse reactions. However, the country has been slow to complete Phase 3 trials.

According to reports, more than a million people, including state-owned enterprise employees, frontline health workers, and workers planning to travel abroad have already been vaccinated. This vaccination program was carried out with unapproved vaccines under the emergency use programme.

Early December made UAE the first ever foreign country to grant approval to a coronavirus disease vaccine made by China. The interim results of a Phase 3 trial state that the Sinopharm vaccine was 86% effective.