A coronavirus vaccine developed by China s Sinovac Biotech was just 50.4 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections in a Brazilian trial, researchers said on Tuesday, barely enough for regulatory approval and well below the rate announced last week.
Health worker Luciano Marini receives a vaccine produced by Sinovac Biotech at the Sao Lucas Hospital, in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil in August 2020.
Photo: AFP
The latest results are a major disappointment for Brazil, as the Chinese vaccine is one of two that the federal government has lined up to begin immunisation during the second wave of the world s second-deadliest Covid-19 outbreak.
Several scientists and observers blasted the Butantan biomedical centre for releasing partial data just days ago that generated unrealistic expectations. The confusion may add to scepticism in Brazil about the Chinese vaccine, which President Jair Bolsonaro has criticised, questioning its origins.