WASHINGTON: Two inactivated vaccines developed by Chinese pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm have been proven safe and effective against Covid-19 in Phase III human trials, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The randomised, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trials were designed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Company Limited and the Beijing Institute of Biological Products Company Limited, both of which belong to China National Biotec Group (CNBG), affiliated with Sinopharm.
The efficacy of a vaccine is determined by looking at how many people contract Covid-19 after being vaccinated, compared with how many are affected when given a placebo injection.
By this criterion, the two inactivated Chinese vaccines showed efficacy rates of 72.8 per cent and 78.1pc, respectively, against symptomatic Covid-19 cases, with rare serious adverse effects reported, according to an interim analysis of the ongoing trials.
It is the world’s first published Phase III study results of inactivated Covid-19 vaccines, the CNBG said.
Wang Guiqiang, director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Peking University First Hospital in Beijing, explained both how the CNBG trial was conducted and its significance.
“A Phase III clinical trial of Covid-19 vaccine is a random comparative study conducted in epidemic areas, in which one group of participants are given genuine vaccines, while the other are given placebo shots. All participants then proceed with their normal lives and work in society. Finally, we analyse the number of cases in each group and use them to calculate the protection rate,” said Wang.
According to the CNBG study, more than 40,000 people in the UAE and Bahrain aged 18 and above without a known history of Covid-19 took part in the trials.
Study enrollment began on July 16, 2020 and data sets used in the study were locked on December 31, 2020.
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