SAO PAULO (AP) – A vaccine candidate developed by Sinovac in China is 78% effective in protecting against coronavirus, according to the results of a study announced on Thursday by Brazilian state health officials seeking federal approval of the shot.
More than 12,000 health workers participated in the study, which detected 218 cases of COVID-19 – about 160 of those who received a placebo rather than the vaccine itself.
Turkish officials said last month that a smaller study accompanying the same vaccine candidate in the country found an effectiveness rate of more than 90%.
The Sao Paulo state government, which contracted for the vaccine, said it would ask Brazilian federal health regulators for emergency approval on Friday to begin using it. Governor João Doria plans to launch a vaccination campaign for the state’s 46 million people on January 25.
The Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Sinovac partner, did not disclose data such as age and sex outcomes or the number of asymptomatic volunteers in the sample, which many epidemiologists ask to assess whether the shot met safety standards.
Officials said the details would be released after the Brazilian health regulatory agency approved the vaccine. They did not give any date for publication in scientific publications.
Gonzalo Vecina, one of the founders of the Brazilian health agency, said the data revealed so far is reassuring enough to approve the shooting for emergency use.
“In general, we have enough information to register and use,” Vecina told The Associated Press. “We need 320 million vaccines for 160 million Brazilians, this is our population over 18 years old. If the federal government doesn’t, the state governments will, but we have to do it fast. We are already behind many nations. “
The health agency said in a statement that it has not yet received full data on the study.
The researchers did not report any serious side effects in the study.
The US has demanded that vaccine candidates be tested on at least 30,000 people to determine safety and efficacy.
Candidate Sinovac was ready to test the late stage at a time when China had such a small spread of coronavirus that the company had to search several locations abroad to gather the necessary data.
“Today is the day of hope, the day of life,” Doria told a news conference. Brazil is approaching 200,000 deaths from the virus.
The governor of Sao Paulo is an opponent of President Jair Bolsonaro, who has downplayed the risks of the pandemic from the outset and has repeatedly questioned the quality of the Chinese vaccine.
Following Doria’s announcement, Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello told a news conference in Brazil that the Bolsonaro administration would buy up to 100 million doses of the Sinovac shot. The state government of Sao Paulo confirmed the agreement, with an initial provision of 46 million doses.
“These photos will be distributed equally and proportionally among all states, as will AstraZeneca,” Pazuello said.
The Brazilian federal government already has an agreement to provide up to 100 million doses of the vaccine created by AstraZeneca, of which 70 million are produced in the soil of origin.
Pazuello said the photos taken by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, which have already proven to be effective, are expensive and bring many legal problems. He also said that the Brazilian government is willing to buy single-injection vaccines under development by Jansen if they work.
In the evening, shortly after Brazil exceeded 200,000 deaths caused by COVID-19, in the official report, the state government of Sao Paulo said it had reached an agreement with the Brazilian Ministry of Health to provide 46 million doses from the vaccine. He did not say whether he would maintain the start of his vaccination campaign on January 25.
Earlier on Thursday, Bolsonaro told supporters in the Brazilian capital that emergency-approved vaccines should not be mandatory without naming the Sinovac shot. To date, his administration does not have a national vaccination plan.
“No one can force a person to take something whose consequences are still unknown,” Bolsonaro said. The president, who had previously experienced a COVID-19 attack, reiterated that he would not receive any vaccines.
Another Chinese company, SinoPharm, announced last week that its similar vaccine is about 79% effective. Both vaccines are based on inactive viruses.