SERRANA, Brazil (Reuters) – China’s COVID-19 vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech is effective against variants in the UK and South Africa, the vaccine’s Brazilian partner said on Wednesday, citing test results from Chinese studies.
“We have tested this vaccine in China against English and South African variants, with good results,” said Dimas Covas, head of the Butantan biomedical center in Sao Paulo, which conducts internal studies of the Chinese vaccine and provides doses for Brazil’s health. Ministry.
Covas did not provide further details on the effectiveness of the vaccine against these strains.
Butantan is also testing the vaccine, known as CoronaVac, against the Brazilian variant of the virus that appeared in the city of Manaus, he said.
“We will have the results soon and we are very sure he will do the job,” Covas said.
Covas was speaking at a news conference in the small town of Serrana, in the state of Sao Paulo, where Butantan on Wednesday launched a mass vaccination campaign aimed at inoculating the entire adult population against COVID-19 to test whether the infection rate is falling.
Covas said CoronaVac is expected to have an advantage over other vaccines because of the technology it uses – an inactivated version of a coronavirus strain.
The effectiveness of the Chinese vaccine against the Brazilian strain in particular will be vital for Brazil. The government provided 100 million doses and made the vaccine a central element of its inoculation campaign.
Covas’ comments come as several Brazilian cities, including the state capitals of Rio, Salvador and Cuiaba, have suspended new vaccinations because they have run out of doses.
Report by Leonardo Benassatto, written by Sabrina Valle; edited by Stephen Eisenhammer and Aurora Ellis