Budget 2018-19

  Sinovac has shipped some 380 million doses, but it still hasn’t published any data in an academic journal. Indonesia, one of the first nations to bet its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Sinovac Biotech Ltd., was about to announce a stunning development, one that would help vindicate a shot that’s been shrouded in controversy for months. Over in Beijing, though, the company’s chief executive officer was unaware. A study of some 128,000 Jakarta health workers released Wednesday found  Sinovac’s vaccine  — known as CoronaVac — was far more protective than clinical trials had indicated. A day earlier, it wasn’t mentioned by CEO Yin Weidong in a wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg reporters, and representatives later confirmed the company didn’t know the announcement was coming. It’s a disconnect that echoes the events of Christmas Eve 2020, when the Chinese developer that will be key to vaccinating much of the developing world had little explanation for why Brazil and Tu...

  The protection rate, confirmed by Sao Paulo state officials, was derived from Sinovac’s most advanced final-phase trials in Brazil involving about 13,000 participants The vaccine developed by China’s Sinovac Biotech Ltd. was found to be 78% effective against Covid-19 in late-stage trials in Brazil, the most definitive evidence so far on the shot’s efficacy after previous data sparked doubt and confusion. The protection rate, confirmed by Sao Paulo state officials, was derived from  Sinovac ’s most advanced final-phase trials in Brazil involving about 13,000 participants. Coming after data was withheld at a progress update in late December, the rate is still below the roughly 95% effectiveness seen in cutting-edge mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc. and Moderna Inc. and being deployed in the U.S. Sinovac’s CoronaVac vaccine was 78% effective in preventing mild cases of Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate infections, said Dimas Covas, director of the But...

  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 choos...