China’s Covid-19 vaccine over 50% effective, but Sinovac withholds data

Chinese vaccine developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing efficacy data on their shots

A Covid-19 vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was found to be more than 50% effective in a Brazilian clinical trial, though researchers delayed releasing more information at the request of the company. A 50% efficacy rate is a minimum standard set by U.S. regulators for emergency authorization of Covid vaccines. Messenger RNA vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have produced far better results, reducing symptomatic Covid cases by well over 90% in giant trials.

Chinese vaccine developers have been slow compared with their western peers in releasing efficacy data on their shots. As millions of healthy people count on transparency in trials before taking a shot, the lack of more specific results from Sinovac’s trial risks eroding confidence in vaccines from China. Hong Kong on Wednesday said residents will be allowed to choose which shot they want to take among several candidates that will likely include Sinovac’s. The lack of transparency in reporting the Brazil trial results “is totally unacceptable,” and wouldn’t pass muster in the U.S., Eric Topol, a clinical trials expert and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, said in a phone interview. “This doesn’t have a good look to it at all.”

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