A Chinese pharmaceutical company said on Wednesday that late-stage drug trials showed that one of the coronavirus vaccines was effective, delivering positive results that could pave the way for the global implementation of hundreds of millions of Chinese vaccine doses in the coming months.
The company, a state-owned firm called Sinopharm, said a vaccine candidate made by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products arm had an efficiency rate of 79 percent in interim Phase 3 trials. Sinopharm said it had submitted an application to Chinese regulators to allow the vaccine to be used widely.
A full breakdown of the results was not immediately available. If supported, the results will bolster the allegations made by Chinese officials in recent days that the country’s vaccines are safe and effective. According to a Chinese vaccination expert, the authorities had already started plans to vaccinate 50 million people in China by mid-February, when hundreds of millions are expected to travel for the New Year holiday.
China’s pursuit of a native vaccine speaks to the country’s technological and diplomatic ambitions. If Chinese vaccines are researched worldwide, it will support the country’s claim as a peer and competitor to the United States and other developed countries in biomedical sciences.
The results of the Sinopharm vaccine show that it is less effective than others approved in other countries. Yet the results are far above the 50 percent threshold that makes a vaccine effective in the eyes of the medical institution.
Two other coronavirus vaccines, manufactured by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech, have already been shown to have an efficacy rate of approximately 95 percent. The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has been licensed in more than 40 countries. Moderna’s vaccine has been approved in the United States, while other countries are evaluating its test results. Russia has announced that its Sputnik V vaccine has an efficacy rate of 91 percent and has launched a mass vaccination campaign.
Beijing has relied heavily on the promise of its vaccines to strengthen ties with developing countries that are considered important to China’s interests. Officials toured the world, promising to offer Chinese vaccines as a ‘global public good’, a charming offensive that the United States could try to counter, especially if the campaign ends up in its backyard.
The political importance in the fight for a vaccine is particularly great for China’s ruling Communist Party, whose authoritarian rule has been criticized for suffocating information and killing the virus when it appeared in the city of Wuhan late last year. A successful vaccine, quickly made available to the world, could help restore the party’s image worldwide and that of its leader, Xi Jinping.