SÃO PAULO: Covid-19 vaccine from China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd., which scientists hope can be used to fight the virus in much of the developing world, has been shown to be effective in end-stage trials in Brazil, according to people involved in its development.
Brazil is the first country to complete phase 3 trials of the experimental vaccine, CoronaVac, which is also being tested in Indonesia and Turkey. With Covid-19 largely controlled in China, vaccine developers in the country have had to conduct their clinical trials abroad.
People involved in the CoronaVac trials in Brazil, which completed the phase 3 trials of the Chinese vaccine last week, told The Wall Street Journal that the results placed CoronaVac above the 50% threshold that international scientists they consider it necessary to protect people.
The Butantan Institute in Brazil, the research center backed by the São Paulo state government that has been testing CoronaVac, is set to announce the vaccine’s effectiveness rate on Wednesday. Its developers expect results comparable to other Covid-19 vaccines that have been shown to be 95% effective in trials.
Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.
Photo:
fabio motta / Shutterstock
São Paulo Governor João Doria said he plans to vaccinate the entire state, where a fifth of Brazil’s population lives, by the end of July, almost a year before the federal government has promised to vaccinate the rest of the population. Brazilian.
Butantan, which also began producing the Sinovac vaccine in Brazil this month, has agreed with the private Chinese firm to become the distributor of CoronaVac in Latin America. As of May, Butantan plans to begin shipping the vaccine to Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Honduras, Peru and Uruguay, Butantan director Dimas Covas said in an interview.
As richer countries buy supplies of Covid-19 vaccines from Western drug manufacturers that are still in development, China and Russia offer their quick shots to the poorest nations. This is what they hope to get in return. Illustration: Ksenia Shaikhutdinova
Write to Samantha Pearson to [email protected] and Luciana Magalhaes to [email protected]
Copyright © 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All rights reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8