Brazilian Study Says Sinovac Coronavirus Jab 78% Effective
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for c0lo:
Brazilian study says Sinovac coronavirus jab 78% effective:
A vaccine candidate made by China's Sinovac is 78% effective in protecting against the coronavirus, according to results of a study announced 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 among people who received a placebo rather than the actual vaccine.
Turkish officials last month said that a smaller, companion study in that country of the same vaccine candidate found an efficacy rate over 90%.
The government of Sao Paulo state, which has contracted for the vaccine, said it will ask Brazil's federal health regulators Friday for emergency approval to begin using it. Gov. Joao Doria plans to start a vaccination campaign for the state's 46 million residents on Jan. 25.
Sao Paulo's Butantan Institute, which is Sinovac's partner in Brazil, did not disclose data such as results by age and gender or the number of asymptomatic volunteers in the sample, which many epidemiologists require to assess whether the shot complies with safety standards.
Officials said details will be published after Brazil's health regulatory agency approves the vaccine. They gave no date for disclosure in scientific publications.
[...] A different Chinese company, SinoPharm, announced last week that its similar vaccine is about 79% effective. Both of those vaccines rely on inactivated viruses.
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