Sinovac Biotech’s CoronaVac vaccine above 50 per cent efficacy, says Brazilian institute

A Covid-19 vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech was found to be more than 50 per cent effective based on analysis of its late-stage trial conducted in Brazil, Reuters reported, citing Sao Paulo health officials.

The announcement, made by Brazilian trial partner Butantan Institute on Wednesday, marks a major step forward for the Chinese-developed jab – one of several front runners in the global race for a Covid-19 vaccine – whose doses have already been booked by countries around the world.

In announcing that the vaccine, which is called CoronaVac, had met the efficacy threshold set by Brazilian health regulator Anvisa, Butantan also said that Sinovac had asked for a delay releasing precise efficacy data for up to 15 days while the company consolidates data from global trials, according to Reuters, which quoted Butantan director Dimas Covas as saying that none of those in the trial developed a severe case of Covid-19.

CoronaVac began its phase three trials in Brazil in July, and since expanded to other overseas trial sites including Turkey and Indonesia. Brazil is the first site to complete and report results from its trial.

01:29

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use in December

UK approves Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for use in December

The Sinovac vaccine provides a potentially significant advantage in the drive to get vaccines to all corners of the world, as it uses an inactivated virus platform and can be stored at normal refrigerator temperatures. This may make the two-dose vaccine more accessible for developing countries, as compared with vaccines that require storage or transport at freezing temperatures, like the mRNA vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.