China has jumped on the COVID-19 vaccine good news bandwagon – announcing that its jab has a similar efficacy rate as the one announced by Pfizer last week, according to a report.
The state-run Global Times and China Central TV on Monday cited one of China’s top coronavirus experts, Zhong Nanshan, who said the country’s vaccine was about 90 percent effective, Newsweek reported.
But the efficacy rate will not be publicly released “until the results of the first phase of trials are available,” the outlets said in social media, according to the mag.
The news from Beijing comes amid similar announcements by two US pharma firms, Moderna and Pfizer, which have reported efficacy rates of nearly 95 percent and 90 percent, respectively.
In Russia, meanwhile, the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow has announced that its Sputnik V shot had a 92 percent efficacy rate.
China is developing several vaccines, of which five are undergoing large-scale global trials, Newsweek reported.
The latest news about its inoculation comes as a regulator in the country approved a clinical trial of the Pfizer-BioNTech SE vaccine, according to the outlet, which cited a report in the South China Morning Post.
The BioNTech SE vaccine is being developed in partnership with Fosun Pharma for the Chinese market, while Pfizer is responsible for the global market, Newsweek reported.