Covid-19: 900 adults to be part of UAE study on Sinopharm vaccine for children

Abu Dhbai - Official says the study’s results will assist the safe return of children to schools.

Besides the 900 kids who will be taking part in the UAE’s Sinopharm vaccine study, 900 adults will also be recruited to generate comparative data on immune response, a top official has said.

Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, Chair, National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee, said: “(The study) is called immunogenicity non-inferiority immune bridging study of inactivated Sars-CoV- 2 vaccine in healthy population aged 3 to 17 years versus healthy population aged 18 years and above. The phase is immune bridging study, and this is one of the ways that we can get data for children without using placebo.”

She underlined that the study has already been conducted in China.

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“This is a different part of the study, which will be conducted in the UAE. The vaccine we are testing is BIBP, which is the same vaccine registered in the UAE for adults,” Dr Nawal, the chief medical officer of Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, said during a webinar held by the US-UAE Business Council.

The team is expected to complete the recruitment of participants soon. “Our primary objective is to evaluate the immunogenicity non-inferiority of inactivated Sars-CoV- 2 vaccine in this population. And the secondary objective is to evaluate the safety of children. So, we are looking to recruit 900 children versus 900 adults. I think, soon, we will be able to complete the recruitment. We will share the results with the world once it is ready,” Dr Nawal said.

ashwani@khaleejtimes.com