Home Latest News CanSino COVID-19 Vaccine 74.8% Effective in Pakistan Trials: Dr. Sultan

CanSino COVID-19 Vaccine 74.8% Effective in Pakistan Trials: Dr. Sultan

by Staff Report

Courtesy PID

Special Assistant to the P.M. on Health says interim analysis of data shows one-shot vaccine had 100 percent success in preventing severe disease

Initial analysis of Phase III clinical trials of CanSino Biologics’ COVID-19 vaccine in Pakistan have shown it has a 74.8 percent efficacy in preventing symptomatic cases and a 100 percent success rate in stopping severe disease, Special Assistant to the P.M. on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan said on Monday.

In a posting on Twitter, he said that globally the clinical trial data of the one-dose vaccine had shown 65.7 percent efficacy at preventing symptomatic cases, and 90.98 percent at preventing severe disease. “The Independent Data Monitoring Committee didn’t report any serious safety concerns,” he said. “Data included 30,000 participants and 101 virologically confirmed COVID cases,” he added, as he praised Pakistani officials for participating in the trial.

Even though the results show the CanSino vaccine is not as effective as that of Pfizer (95 percent after two doses), or AstraZeneca (81 percent), Dr. Sultan has said that any vaccine with effectiveness over 70 percent is “good.” The vaccine has an added benefit of only requiring one shot, and can be stored in normal refrigerators, making it an attractive option for developing countries with cold chain storage concerns.

In addition to Pakistan, clinical trials of the CanSino vaccine were conducted in Mexico, Russia, Argentina and Chile. Dr. Sultan, last month, said that Pakistan’s agreement with CanSino Biologics gave it priority to receive “tens of millions” of the vaccine after its trial data had been verified. Health officials have said that Islamabad expects to receive 20 million doses of the vaccine.

Prior to general public use, the vaccine would have to be submitted to the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan for emergency-use approval.

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