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Another day... another Chinese scandal costing lives

JamieDimonsBalls

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Scientists have criticised the way data from the trials of a vaccine made by the Chinese drug company Sinovac has been released, saying it has caused confusion.

The complaints have prompted the pharmaceutical company’s Brazilian partner, the Butantan Institute, to promise to provide the complete data at a conference on Tuesday, although it is not clear whether they will be able to address all the concerns raised.

Jerome Kim, director general of the International Vaccine Institute, criticised the way information was trickling out: “It is confusing when the group [Sinovac] that has access to the data from Indonesia, Turkey, and Brazil makes no official comment as its trial data are presented piecemeal. Are these authorised or unauthorised? If they are authorised, why doesn’t the company comment?


“We don’t know how the analysis was done. We also don’t know if the analyses can be combined. Is this an official number that Sinovac will stand by?”




“Initially, Sinovac was going to ship the vaccine supply to Hong Kong in January. But they delayed the announcement of the Phase III clinical trial data three times,” said David Hui, a professor of respiratory medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who sits on the Asian financial hub’s Covid-19 advisory panel. “That would delay the assessment of their application.”




Brazilian researchers testing China’s Sinovac Vaccine said Tuesday that full data showed it to be 50.38% effective against Covid-19 in late-stage trials, almost 30 percentage points lower than previously announced, as concerns grow over the study’s transparency.

The São Paulo-based Butantan Institute said last week that late-stage trials had shown the CoronaVac vaccine to be between 78% and 100% effective, offering total protection against severe cases of the disease.

However, after rising pressure from scientists, some of whom accused the trial’s organizers of misleading the public, Butantan said those rates only included volunteers who suffered mild to severe cases of Covid-19. When data from all volunteers is considered, including those who contracted “very mild” cases of Covid-19 and required no medical assistance, the total efficacy rate falls to 50.38%, Butantan said Tuesday.
 
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