The United Arabs Emirates (UAE) is the first government to officially approve Chinese coronavirus vaccine developed by Sinopharm.
The UAE issued the first government approval of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday, citing preliminary data showing that it was 86 per cent effective, a move that could bring Chinese vaccines a step closer to widespread use.
The health experts cautioned that more information was needed on the Phase 3 trials. The efficacy rate announced by authorities in the UAE, where the trials took place, would put the vaccine above the 50 per cent threshold that international scientists deem necessary to protect people.
“I think it’s great news but it’s a little unusual not to come from the study manufacturer,” said Jerome Kim, director of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul.
Among the details that Jerome Kim said were still needed were confidence intervals that could give the public a sense of how reliable the efficacy estimate was.
“There are just so many questions around the way it’s been presented.”
Candidates developed by Moderna Inc. and jointly by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have shown to have efficacy rates of 94.5 per cent and 95 per cent in the final stages of testing, respectively.
The Emirates, which is among 10 countries where Sinopharm is testing its two vaccines, said it had reviewed an interim analysis of data from late-stage clinical trials by Sinopharm that also showed the vaccine was 100 per cent effective in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease. There were no serious safety concerns, it said.
“The announcement is a significant vote of confidence by the UAE’s health authorities in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine,” the ministry said in a release carried by the state-run Emirates News Agency.
The news release from the Emirati government provided few other key details, such as the number of Covid-19 cases that were analyzed or the ages of the volunteers, making it unclear to scientists how Sinopharm came to its conclusions.
“The devil is in the details,” said Beate Kampmann, director of the Vaccine Center at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
“It’s very difficult to judge this without seeing the number of cases. The main thing is, the trial results need to be made public.”Beate added.
Jin Dongyan, a virologist at the University of Hong Kong, called the information in the Emirates’ disclosure “mediocre,” saying more transparency from the vaccine maker was needed.
“If they make everything secretly, like a black box, that does not help,” Professor Jin said. “That would just create confusion and mistrust and could be counterproductive.”
The government did not say whether it had conducted an independent analysis of the raw data.
