/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5fd0b3a048fb77cc0642f9b7/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=6016&cropY1=0&cropY2=3384&w=1200&resize=1200,675&ssl=1 "United Arab Emirates Claims China’s Sinopharm Vaccine Is 100% Effective At Preventing Moderate And Severe Covid-19")
Topline
The experimental vaccine developed by China National Pharmaceutical Group, also known as Sinopharm, is 86% effective at preventing Covid-19 infection and 100% effective at preventing severe and moderate disease, health officials from the United Arab Emirates announced Wednesday, although with scarce detail provided about the trial.
The UAE health ministry claim Sinopharm’s vaccine is 86% effective at preventing Covid-19 infection.
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Key Facts
The UAE health ministry cited an interim analysis of a late-stage clinical trial involving 31,000 volunteers as the source of its information, though neither they nor Sinopharm provided any data from the trial to validate the claims such as how many participants were infected or how many actually received the vaccine.
The ministry said “no serious safety concerns” were observed, though, again, no information on side effects was provided.
The ministry said the announcement is a “significant vote of confidence by the UAE’s health authorities in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine.”
The ministry added that it had officially registered the vaccine at the request of the manufacturer, which it says could eventually lead to the shot’s widespread authorization.
What To Watch For
With no publicly available data to verify the ministry’s statements, it is hard not to be skeptical of its optimistic outlook. At some point, especially if it is to gain widespread trust from the public, Sinopharm will have to publish the data from its clinical trials.
Key Background
The UAE approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use in September, though only for frontline workers most at risk of contracting the virus. The ministry, in the same announcement, says the vaccine has been effective at safeguarding this group and hopes that it could lead “the way to comprehensively protecting the population and responsibly opening the economy.” The announcement follows several very strong weeks in the race to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna are in the approval stage, with advanced clinical trials ongoing with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University. The U.K. has already approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, and began the country’s largest ever immunization campaign Tuesday.
Tangent
Another Chinese vaccine, developed by Sinovac, appears to be safe and able to prompt a “quick” immune response, according to findings from early-stage clinical trials published in the Lancet medical journal.
Further Reading
Chinese Vaccine 86% Effective, UAE Health Ministry Says (NPR)
Sinovac’s Covid-19 Vaccine Appears Safe And Prompts ‘Quick’ Immune Response, Study Finds (Forbes)
‘V-Day’: U.K. Kicks Off Western World’s First Covid-19 Vaccination Campaign (Forbes)
Questions Over Effectiveness Remain As AstraZeneca And Oxford Release Covid-19 Vaccine Trial Data(Forbes)
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