Sinopharm vaccine for children: Some findings

‘Results from another study evaluating the Sinopharm SARS-CoV-2 vaccine in children were published on September 15 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. The Phase 1/2 trial examined the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine in a cohort of children aged 3-17 years, with participants broken into several age groups (3-5, 6-12, and 13-17 years) and dosing groups (0 [control], 2µg, 4µg, and 8µg). Three (3) doses of each vaccine dosage or placebo were administered 28 days apart. All adverse events were categorized as mild or moderate severity, but the article does not report on serious adverse events. The study concluded that children who received the vaccine had robust immune responses and similar levels of neutralizing antibodies to those observed in older vaccine recipients. The study recommended a 2-shot 4µg dose regimen for future Phase 3 trials. Additional data are being collected through a Phase 3 trial currently taking place in the UAE. 

Read here (The Lancet Infectious Disease, Sept 15, 2021)

Gavi in talks with China's Sinopharm, other vaccine makers for Covax doses

‘The GAVI Vaccine Alliance is in talks with COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers including China's state-owned Sinopharm to expand the COVAX pipeline and secure doses for distribution, a GAVI spokeswoman said on Monday.

‘Sinopharm received emergency use listing from the World Health Organization (WHO) last Friday, making it eligible for the COVAX programme and bolstering Beijing's push for a bigger role in inoculating the world.

‘COVAX, run jointly by GAVI and the WHO to provide doses to the world's poorest people, has hit major supply problems. To date the AstraZeneca (AZN.L) shot made by the Serum Institute of India account for most doses rolled out, but authorities there have restricted exports because of India's massive epidemic.’

Read here (Reuters, May 10, 2021)

Are China’s Covid shots less effective? Experts size up Sinovac

‘The good news is the vaccines work extremely well in combating severe Covid infections, according to Fiona Russell from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne and Paul Griffin, a professor from the University of Queensland in Brisbane. We asked them key questions about the merits of the Sinovac shot. Their comments have been edited and condensed for brevity.

‘How effective is the Sinovac vaccine really?

‘Russell: The Sinovac study was to look at how the vaccine works against the entire range of clinical symptoms, from mild infections to severe ones, including death. The efficacy data of about 50% is for very mild disease, requiring no treatment. For infections requiring some medical intervention, it’s about 84% and for moderate-to-severe Covid cases, it’s 100%.’

Read here (Bloomberg, Apr 14, 2021)

China approves two more domestic Covid-19 vaccines for public use

‘China’s medical products regulator said on Thursday that it had approved two more COVID-19 vaccines for public use, raising the number of domestically produced vaccines that can be used in China to four. The two newly cleared vaccines are made by CanSino Biologics Inc (CanSinoBIO) and Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm).

‘They join a vaccine from Sinovac Biotech approved earlier this month, and another from Sinopharm’s Beijing unit approved last year.

‘Prior to formal approval for wider public use by the National Medical Products Administration, millions of doses of the two Sinopharm vaccines and Sinovac shot had been administered in China’s vaccination program. The program targets select groups of people facing a higher risk of infection.’

Read here (Reuters, Feb 25, 2021)

It’s time to trust China’s and Russia’s vaccines

‘The fact is that no Covid-19 vaccine has been developed or released as transparently as it should have been. And while China and Russia may have botched their rollouts more than some Western companies, that doesn’t necessarily mean their vaccines are shoddy. The mounting evidence showing that the Chinese and Russian vaccines are reliable should be taken seriously, and fast, especially considering supply issues throughout the world...

‘What’s more, most big pharmaceutical companies in the West have resisted licensing their vaccines to non-Western manufacturers, and several wealthy countries are blocking a proposal by India and South Africa that the World Trade Organization temporarily suspend some intellectual property protections for Covid-19-related vaccines and treatments.

‘On the other hand, according to our latest analysis of data provided by the analytics firm Airfinity, Sinovac has already signed deals to export this year more than 350 million doses of its vaccine to 12 countries; Sinopharm, around 194 million doses to 11 countries; Sputnik V, about 400 million doses to 17 countries. All three manufacturers have stated publicly that they will have the capacity to produce up to 1 billion doses each in 2021. And all three have licensed their vaccines to local manufacturers in several countries.’

Read here (New York Times, Feb 5, 2021)

Sinovac applies for conditional approval of Covid-19 vaccine in China

‘China's medicine regulator is reviewing a second domestically developed COVID-19 vaccine for conditional approval. The CoronaVac inoculation, developed by Sinovac Biotech, has been given to tens of thousands of people in China under an emergency use program launched in July targeting specific groups with high infection risks. Regulators are also reviewing for approval a similar vaccine created by state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, known as Sinopharm...

‘China's COVID-19 vaccines have won approval in a dozen countries for emergency use, but the failure to publish detailed trial data could undermine public trust, a leading Chinese researcher said in a recent interview.

‘Ding Sheng, dean of Tsinghua University's School of Pharmaceutical Sciences and director of the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute (GHDDI), called for the original clinical trial data from Chinese experimental vaccines to be made public so that experts can better assess their efficacy and eliminate lingering safety concerns in China and abroad.’

Read here (Nikkei, Feb 4, 2021)

Just like Pfizer, China says vaccines can beat new strains

‘Virologists and vaccine specialists with China’s National Health Commission (NHC) said on Wednesday they had a detailed plan to upgrade homegrown vaccines against Covid-19 to “version 2.0” within two months to stop the spread of new mutant strains found across the United Kingdom and South Africa.

‘The claim coincided with Pfizer’s announcement on Wednesday that its Covid-19 vaccine works against mutated variants found in the UK and South Africa, according to a lab study. China’s claim comes as local firms SinoPharm and Sinovac crank out their Covid-19 shots for mass inoculations.’

Read here (Asia Times, Jan 28, 2021)

Chinese and Russian vaccines in high demand as world scrambles for doses

‘Sales represent coup for Beijing and Moscow, even as concerns over pharma standards linger... 

‘Chinese and Russian manufacturers are seeing growing appetite from foreign buyers for their Covid-19 vaccines as the international scramble for jabs intensifies, despite lingering concerns over incomplete trial data and the rigour of domestic approval processes.

‘Russia’s Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology has agreed to sell its Sputnik V vaccine to countries including Algeria, Argentina, Saudi Arabia and Brazil, while the two leading Chinese manufacturers, Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech, have signed deals with more than a dozen countries including Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Philippines, Indonesia and Hungary.’

Read here  (Financial Times, Jan 18, 2021) 

World questions whether China’s Covid jab is safe

‘Although Turkish researchers found that the Sinovac vaccine was 91.25 percent effective in preventing the onset of the coronavirus, trials in the United Arab Emirates found it to be somewhat lesser, at 86 percent effective, while Indonesian trials found the drug was only 61 percent effective. The Turkish trials were conducted on only 29 subjects. Even worse news emerged from Brazil, where the Chinese vaccine was found to be effective in only 50.4 percent of cases in clinical trials numbering13,000 participants. Too many across Asia and elsewhere believe there wasn’t sufficient scientific rigor, the trials were too short and too rushed, and that, in the words of one observer who declined to be named, “poor Asians and others are being given a shoddy vaccine because Beijing wants to score political points with its crappy jab.”

‘Whether that is true or not, those countries going ahead with the Chinese vaccine, however, seem to be proceeding on the basis that, while it may only be 50 percent effective, it’s better than zero percent without a vaccine. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines have been found to be more than 90 percent effective, but it’s a question of availability and price. Although legions of common citizens from the Philippines to Indonesia to Turkey to Brazil are shying away from China’s vaccine, governments are sticking with it. Singapore has announced it will continue with the Chinese products, as will Thailand although authorities have also bought 26 million doses of the UK-based AstraZenica vaccine – which won’t arrive until June. It will still need to be approved by the Thai FDA.’

Read here (Asia Sentinel, Jan 17, 2021)

Spotlight on China’s competing Covid vaccines

‘Chinese authorities have already approved multiple Covid-19 vaccines for emergency use in the country, and nearly a million Chinese have already been vaccinated with one candidate. Several local governments are already placing orders for domestically developed vaccines, though the Chinese government hasn’t confirmed how many people it’s aiming to vaccinate as part of emergency approval. The first international shipments of the vaccine, by private Chinese company Sinovac, have also already arrived in Indonesia this week in preparation for a mass vaccination campaign ahead of expected local approval...

‘So who are the companies developing these vaccines in China, and what do we know about them?’ 

Read here (Asia Times, Dec 12, 2020)

Almost a million people inoculated with Chinese Covid-19 vaccine: Sinopharm

‘Nearly a million people have taken an experimental coronavirus vaccine developed by Chinese company Sinopharm, the firm said, although it has not yet provided any clear clinical evidence of efficacy. China has been giving experimental Covid-19 vaccines to people including state employees, international students and essential workers heading abroad since July. 

‘Sinopharm's chairman told media this week that nearly a million people have now received their vaccine for emergency use, though he did not provide a specific figure. "We have not received a single report of severe adverse reaction, and only a few had some mild symptoms," Mr Liu Jingzhen said in an interview re-published by the state-owned firm on Wednesday (Nov 18).’

Read here (Straits Times, Nov 20, 2020)