"A second shot given to trial participants six months after their first injection could offer substantial protection," says an...
BEIJING: China's CanSino Biologics Inc said the efficacy rate for its single-dose COVID-19 vaccine may fall over time although it should still have a rate of 50% or more five to six months after inoculation.
A second shot given to trial participants six months after their first injection could offer substantial protection, Zhu Tao, CanSinoBIO's chief scientific officer, said in an online presentation late on Wednesday.
"A booster shot six months later led to a seven times to 10-times increase in neutralising antibody levels, so we expect in this case efficacy could reach over 90%," Zhu said, though he cautioned more clinical trial data was needed for more precise estimates.
The company in February reported interim data that showed the shot was 68.83% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 disease two weeks after vaccination but the rate fell to 65.28% after four weeks.
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The February data reflected a shorter time span after the inoculation, Zhu said.
The vaccine has been approved in China, Pakistan, Hungary and Mexico.
CanSinoBIO is also planning a clinical trial in China for an inhaled version of the vaccine.
Pakistan received the first shipment of 60,000 doses of Convidecia on Tuesday procured by the government.
According to an NCOC communique to all the federating units, the single-dose vaccine would only be administered to 80 years and above population to prevent them from visiting the vaccination centres for the second time.
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It further says that it would be deployed at separate AVCs where no other vaccine (Sinopharm) would be kept and directed the federating units to communicate to senior citizens that they could avail the single-dose vaccine now.
“Owing to its availability in small quantity, it is recommended that it should only be administered in large cities with a high number of COVID-19 cases”, the directives say, adding that the vaccination record of Convidecia should also be maintained separately.
It is worth mentioning here that a private firm AJM Pharmaceutical Limited is also importing 10,000 doses of the Cansino’s single-dose vaccine, which would be sold initially to three private hospitals in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi where its trials were held.
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan has recommended a Maximum Retail Price (MRP) of Rs4,225 for the single dose of Chinese Convidecia vaccine in Pakistan although the federal cabinet has to approve and notify the price.