China working on its Covid-19 vaccines
By AsiaNews/Agencies
Nov 19 2020
Sinovac Biotech is conducting phase three trials in Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey. Unlike Pfizer-BioNtech and Moderna vaccines, its vaccine can be stored at a temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius in any refrigerator at home and is stable for up to three years. A government campaign is trying to overcome the effect of past vaccine scandals.
BEIJING – A COVID-19 vaccine is giving good results inducing a quick immune response, this according to a study published in the scientific journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
The findings are based on phases 1 and 2 trials conducted with around 700 people. Phase 3 is currently underway in Indonesia, Brazil and Turkey.
Produced by Sinovac Biotech, CoronaVac is one of three experimental COVID-19 vaccines China is testing on hundreds of thousands of people as part of an emergency use programme.
The study appears almost simultaneously with the findings of two other vaccines, Pfizer-BioNtech (United States-Germany) and Moderna (United States), which have reported efficiency levels of 90 and 95 per cent respectively in phase 3 trials. Sinovac did not report any efficiency level.
Although Sinovac is still at an earlier stage, Chinese researchers say their vaccine has the advantage that it can be stored at normal fridge temperatures of 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and may remain stable for up to three years.
By contrast, Pfizer’s vaccine must be stored at minus 70 degrees Celsius, but it can be kept in a normal fridge for up to five days. Moderna’s vaccine can last for a month in a normal fridge or six months if stored at minus 20 Celsius.
China has been testing vaccines since April. In July, testing was done on tens of thousands of soldiers, public employees, government officials and company executives.
Government officials and business executives are being used to promote vaccination to build trust in the product. In the recent past, a series of scandals involving vaccine had led to widespread scepticism in China. – AsiaNews
