SAO PAULO (AP) – A vaccine candidate made by Chinese Sinovac is 78% effective in protecting against the coronavirus, according to the results of a study announced Thursday by Brazilian health officials who called for the federal approval of the firing.
More than 12,000 health workers participated in the study, which detected 218 cases of COVID-19, approximately 160 of the people who received a placebo instead of the actual vaccine.
Turkish officials said last month that a smaller, more complementary study in that country of the same vaccine candidate found an effectiveness rate of more than 90%.
The Sao Paulo state government, which has contracted the vaccine, said it will ask Brazil’s federal health regulators for emergency approval on Friday to start using it. Governor João Doria plans to launch a vaccination campaign for the state’s 46 million residents on January 25th.
The Butantan Institute in Sao Paulo, which is a partner of Sinovac in Brazil, did not disclose data such as results by age and sex or the number of asymptomatic volunteers in the sample, which many epidemiologists need to assess whether the trait meets the standards of security.
Officials said the details will be released after Brazil’s health regulatory agency approves the vaccine. They did not give any date of disclosure 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 shot for emergency use.
“In a general picture, we have enough information to continue to register and use it,” Vecina told The Associated Press. “We need 320 million vaccines for 160 million Brazilians, this is our population of over 18 years. If the federal government doesn’t, state governments will, but we need 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 United States has demanded that vaccine candidates be tested on at least 30,000 people to determine safety and efficacy.
The Sinovac candidate was preparing for the final phase tests at a time when China had so little coronavirus spread that the company was forced to search several locations abroad to gather the necessary data.
“Today is the day of hope, the day of life,” Doria said at a news conference. Brazil is approaching 200,000 deaths caused by 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 said at a press conference in Brasilia that the Bolsonaro administration would buy up to 100 million doses of Sinovac’s shot. The Sao Paulo state government confirmed the deal, with an initial provision of 46 million doses.
“These traits will be distributed equitably and proportionally among all states, as will those of AstraZeneca,” Pazuello said.
The Brazilian federal government already has an agreement to get up to 100 million doses of the vaccine created by AstraZeneca, 70 million of them produced on earth.
Pazuello said the shots fired by the pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and Moderna, which have already proven to be effective, are costly and involve many legal issues. He also said 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 from COVID-19 in its official account, the state government of Sao Paulo said it had reached an agreement with the Brazilian health ministry to provide 46 million doses of his vaccine. He did not say whether he would keep the start of his vaccination campaign on Jan. 25.
Earlier Thursday, Bolsonaro told supporters of the capital Brasilia that vaccines approved for emergency use should not be mandatory, without naming Sinovac. To date, his administration has no national vaccination plan.
“No one can force a person to take something that is still unaware of its consequences,” Bolsonaro said. The president, who previously experienced a COVID-19 attack, reiterated that he will not take any vaccines.
A different Chinese company, SinoPharm, announced last week that its similar vaccine is about 79% effective. Both vaccines are based on inactivated viruses.