Jan 7, 2021 - Health

China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine 78% effective in Brazil trials

Shawna Chen

Photo of a masked Joao Doria holding a box of the CoronaVac vaccine during a press conference — São Paulo Gov. Joao Doria holds a box of the CoronaVac vaccine during a press conference. Photo: Alexandre Schneider via Getty Images

A coronavirus vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinovac is 78% effective, Brazil officials announced Thursday.

Why it matters: Regulators in other countries are closely following the Phase 3 trials in Brazil. If the vaccine is approved for use, it could help fill a gap in access to coronavirus vaccines for many low- and middle-income countries.

Details: Brazil’s Butantan Institute, a medical research institute in São Paulo, conducted the study of the vaccine, named CoronaVac, with 12,476 volunteers.

The vaccine prevented all participants from developing severe cases of COVID-19, officials said.
Brazil has the third-highest number of cases in the world after the U.S. and India, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.
The Butantan Institute said it will request authorization for emergency use of the vaccine in Brazil, per the Wall Street Journal.
Other countries, including Turkey and Indonesia, are also testing the CoronaVac vaccine.

The big picture: Sinovac has already sold over 300 million doses, primarily to low- and middle-income countries, per New York Times.

Sinovac says it will be able to produce 600 million doses this year.

Health regulators in China said late last month that they have approved the country's first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine, developed by the state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm, for general use.

Sinopharm said that preliminary data have shown the vaccine to be 79.3% effective, though experts have said important data is missing.

Go deeper...The challenge of 2021: Vaccinating the world

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China's Sinovac coronavirus vaccine 78% effective in Brazil trials

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