Covid-19: China says Sinopharm jab works against mutations

Shanghai - Makers say the vaccine, which received first approval in the UAE, is effective despite a new variant strain

Chinese vaccine maker Sinopharm insisted their jab was effective against current virus mutations.

Chinese medics in Shanghai were given Covid-19 inoculations this week, as the country is racing to vaccinate millions ahead of the Spring Festival travel rush.

Pharma giant Sinopharm was given “conditional” approval for its vaccine candidate last week, and makers said they were confident the vaccine was effective despite a new variant strain spreading rapidly. Sinopharm vaccine received its first approval in the UAE.

The “current mutation of the Covid-19 virus has not been able to make the vaccine ineffective”, Yang Xiaoming, president of the group’s China National Biotec Group subsidiary, told state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.

Vaccination programmes are being rolled out for key groups across China, state media reported, such as workers in community roles, logistics or food sectors.

Unlike the approach taken in many European countries, China is only vaccinating those aged between 18 and 59.

The state-run Global Times newspaper quoted unnamed industry observers who said the ratio of elderly volunteers was small in the vaccine clinical trials, which explains a “cautious use of vaccination among elderly people at present”.

The vaccine — which Sinopharm says has a 79 per cent efficacy rate — requires two doses with an interval of two to four weeks.