China Considers Mixing Vaccines In A Bid To Increase Its Efficacy

<p><strong>New Delhi:&nbsp;</strong>On Saturday, Gao Fu, the director of the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention formally said that the country is considering mixing Covid vaccine to increase its efficacy after recent data showed that Chinese vaccine efficacy was "not high".&nbsp;</p> <p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">&ldquo;Inoculation using vaccines of different technical lines is being considered,&rdquo; Gao told a conference in the Chinese city of Chengdu according to a Reuters report.</p> <p><strong>ALSO READ: <span style="color: #f80707;"><a style="color: #f80707;" href="https://ift.tt/3ge3s9d Imbalance': WHO Chief Raises Worry Over Vaccine Distribution, Criticises Divide</a></span></strong></p> <p>Gao said that changing the number of doses and the length of time between doses was a solution to the efficacy issues.&nbsp;</p> <p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">According to the Reuters report, vaccine developed by China&rsquo;s Sinovac Biotech when given at a time period shorter than three week was 49.1% effective based on data from a Phase III trial in Brazil this is below the 50% threshold set by World Health Organization. The results was published by Brazilian researchers in a paper on Sunday ahead of peer review.</p> <p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">But data from a small subgroup showed that the efficacy rate increased to 62.3% when the doses were given at intervals of three weeks and longer. The overall efficacy rate for the vaccine was slightly above 50% in the trial. Although data from a small sub group the efficacy rate increased to 62.3% when the doses were given at intervals of three weeks and longer. The overall vaccine efficacy is slightly higher than 50%.&nbsp;</p> <p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">Whereas in the vaccine created by Sinopharm no detailed efficacy data has been released. It has said two vaccines developed by its units are 79.4% and 72.5% effective respectively, based on interim results according to Reuters.&nbsp;</p> <p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">So far, China has developed and approved four domestic vaccines for public use and a fifth for smaller-scale emergency use.&nbsp; The Reuters reported said that an official said country will most likely produce 3 billion doses by the end of the year.</p> <p class="Paragraph-paragraph-2Bgue ArticleBody-para-TD_9x">Millions of vaccines have been shipped abroad by China, officials and state media have fiercely defended the shots while calling into question the safety and logistics capabilities of other vaccines.</p> <p>"How to improve the protection rate of vaccines is a problem that requires global scientists to consider,&rdquo; Gao said, adding that mixing vaccines and adjusting immunisation methods are solutions that he had proposed according to the report.&nbsp;</p>