A study released by the Chilean Health authorities concludes that the effectiveness of the vaccine from the Chinese pharmaceutical company Sinovac is 67% to prevent symptomatic cases of COVID-19 and 80% to prevent deaths in people vaccinated with two doses required.
The effectiveness of the immunizer CoronoVac showed that 14 days after applying the second dose prevents 85% hospitalizations and 89% admission to intensive care units, according to the study released on Friday in the press.
The report, presented by the doctor and adviser of the Ministry of Health, Rafael Ares, was conducted on a sample of 10.5 million people, between February 2 and April 1.
The study by the Chilean Ministry of Health concluded that in a scenario of high epidemic activity and in susceptible groups (elderly and with comorbidities), the vaccine protects against symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection, as well as against the most severe forms of the disease “.
The analysis is released days after the top authority of the Chinese disease control agency, Gao Fu, admitted that the effectiveness of Chinese coronavirus vaccines “do not have very high protection rates,” and that the government consider combining them. It was an unusual official admission of the weakness of Chinese immunizers.
Dr. Ares said in a subsequent press conference that the sample of 10.5 million people included 6.5 million unvaccinated, 1.5 million with a dose and 2.5 million at the end of the ‘study had received two doses. In the latter group that had completed the immunization process, 54 people died.
Regarding 67% effectiveness in preventing COVID-19, the doctor exemplified the result by noting that in a group of 100 people vaccinated with two doses, they will become infected 34.
Dr. Jeanette Vega, former Undersecretary of Health and WHO advisor, told AP that, according to the study, Sinovac “is transformed into a very good vaccine because it has two advantages for intermediate development countries: the the first is that it is much cheaper and the second is that the vaccination logistics are much simpler. “
Pfizer and Moderna American vaccines should be stored at temperatures below 70 and 20 degrees Celsius respectively, while Sinovac vaccines can be kept in common refrigerators.
Vega added that “because of the type of vaccine it is, it probably produces less immune escape of new variants.” He said that, according to preliminary studies in some local hospitals and laboratories, “we have (in Chile) significant circulation of the P1 variant, the Brazilian,” which is estimated at 50%.
“These figures reflect, that at least in a percentage of those vaccinated (considered in the study), they probably had a P1 infection,” he added.
The Chilean study is the first to be conducted in the field to analyze the effectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine. Until now, only clinical trial results were developed, developed in controlled environments that measure efficacy, but not effectiveness, authorities report.
Chile leads vaccinations in Latin America with 7.6 million immunized in just over two months, representing 40% of its 19 million inhabitants, while 27% have already received the second dose. The government plans to immunize 80% of its population.
Chile soon managed to buy vaccines from several pharmaceutical companies, which allowed it to seal a contract with Sinovac in June 2020 for 60 million doses in three years. The first shipment arrived in late January and to date has received nearly 13 million doses. Another two million of the ten acquired from Pfizer also arrived.
Please note that 90.1% of the Chilean population was vaccinated with Sinovac and the remaining 9.9% with Pfizer.
Chilean authorities reported on the eve that severely ill with COVID-19 over the age of 70 show a sustained decline in recent weeks, and that the age group between 60 and 69 reflects a downward trend, while minors 59-year-olds, who are not yet receiving the second dose of the vaccine, “have shown a sustained rise.”
They attribute the decline to the fact that those over 70 were among the first to be vaccinated, only after health officials.
Chile recorded the highest number of people infected in one day at the beginning of the month, with more than 9,100 cases. Although a slight reduction in infected people has been seen in recent days, it is still impossible to know whether the South American country has already reached the peak of this second wave. For more than a week, hospitals have occupied 95% of their critical beds, mainly for patients with the virus. Chile has so far recorded 1.1 million infected and nearly 25,000 dead.