New Chinese Covid-19 vaccine shows 82% efficacy against serious infection

Beijing – A new vaccine developed in China by Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products Co has shown an 82 per cent effectiveness against serious Covid-19 infections.

The vaccine, called ZF2001, has shown 92.93 per cent efficacy against the Alpha variant and about 78 per cent against the more infectious Delta variant in its late-stage clinical trials.

The company announced in an exchange filing on Friday (Aug 27) that none of the individuals who received the vaccine entered clinical care or died.

However, there were no clarifications if the numbers covered only serious cases or all symptomatic infections of Covid-19.

The findings were based on an interim analysis of 28,500 people and 221 infections, reported Bloomberg.

ZF2001, trade-named ZIFIVAX, was co-developed with the Institute of Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the country’s top scientific research institute.

The efficacy rate against the Alpha variant is reported to be one of the highest among Chinese Covid-19 vaccines to date.

Chongqing Zhifei launched the third phase of trials and is also being tested in Indonesia and Ecuador.

The final trial is required before obtaining authorisation for the experimental shot in Uzbekistan last December. It was then tested in Pakistan this year February.

On Mar 10, China approved the vaccine for emergency use and is currently being administered across the country.

Similar to Novavax Inc’s vaccine, ZF2001 is an adjuvanted protein subunit vaccine. It is administered in three doses over two months.

According to an earlier study, the Novavax vaccine is said to show 90 per cent efficacy against Covid-19 although far less effective against the Beta variant.

Meanwhile, the mRNA vaccines by Pfizer and Moderna have shown high efficacy against Covid-19 variants, including the Delta strain.

However, their protection wanes over time, and a third booster shot is being considered./TISG

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