China’s Sinovac jab shows high efficacy against COVID-19 in real-world study

The COVID-19 vaccine, developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd, showed high efficacy against the disease, in a real-world study conducted in Indonesia, reported Bloomberg. The study involved 25,374 health workers in the capital Jakarta, who were given the two doses of CoronaVac. They were then tracked for 28 days.

Also read: WHO says approval for 1st Chinese vaccine a ‘milestone achievement’

What were the results?

The vaccine provided 100% protection against COVID-induced deaths and 96% protection against hospitalisation, as soon as seven days after getting the second dose.

It gave 94% protection against coronavirus infection, Indonesian Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin told the media house. 

It isn’t, however, known if the healthcare workers were uniformly screened to detect asymptomatic carriers.

How effective was the vaccine in clinical trials?

CoronaVac’s efficacy was pegged at just above 78% in final-stage clinical trials in Brazil

This was much lower than other vaccine candidates. Pfizer’s vaccine was found to be 95% effective, while Moderna’s shot showed 94% efficacy.

Was there any other real-world study of CoronaVac?

Another real-world study of CoronaVac was conducted in Chile, the results of which were announced last month. The jab was found to be 67% effective, reported Reuters.

It was found to be 85% effective in preventing hospitalisations and 80% effective in preventing deaths.

What does the Indonesian study result mean for China?

It’ll definitely boost China’s effort to supply its COVID vaccines to the developing world, thus strengthening its image. It’s also a kind of vindication for the country, amid criticism that over the vaccine’s efficacy and transparency of data.

Also read: China mulls mixing vaccines to improve efficacy of jabs

CoronaVac in Indonesia

The south-east Asian nation was among the first to give approval to the Chinese jab. In fact, in January, President Joko Widodo himself took the CoronaVac jab to ward off skepticism around the vaccine.