BRIEF—UAE backs Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccine

The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) health ministry says an interim analysis of in-country phase-three clinical trials of Chinese-made Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine has 86% efficacy against the infection, according to a report by the Aljazeera state news agency.

The UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention said on Wednesday it had officially “registered” the Beijing Institute of Biological Products’ inactivated vaccine, which was developed jointly with China National Biotec Group, a Sinopharm subsidiary.

In July, the UAE started Phase III clinical trials of the vaccine, developed by Beijing Institute of Biological Product, a unit of Sinopharm’s China National Biotec Group (CNBG).

In September, it authorized emergency use of the vaccine for certain groups, the first such international clearance for a vaccine developed in China.

The analysis also shows “99% seroconversion rate of neutralizing antibody and 100% effectiveness in preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease,” the ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.

Meantime, according to the Financial Times, Sinopharm, which also is preparing to distribute a second vaccine developed with the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, has said it would have manufactured 100 million doses of the two vaccines by the end this year and could provide as many as 1 billion doses by the end of 2021.