Sinopharm awaits trial results to determine if COVID-19 vaccine needs booster shot: Executive

Gulf Today Report 

Sinopharm working on assessing results from overseas Phase III clinical trials to make decision on a booster shot, according to a company executive on Sunday.

Regulators and vaccine developers are trying to decide if a booster shot is necessary following worries of emerging coronavirus variants likely to be too strong for the first vaccine that was designed against older strains.

"The preliminary results so far showed that the booster vaccination can effectively increase the neutralizing antibody titer and antibody persistence, and also effectively improve the vaccine's ability to resist mutations," Zhang Yuntao, vice president at China National Biotec Group (CNBG), an affiliate of Sinopharm, said on Sunday. 

READ MORE 

1 dead, 5 wounded after stabbing attack in Vancouver, Canada

UAE reports four coronavirus deaths

Explosion at Indonesia church wounds several

Antibodies triggered by two COVID-19 vaccine products from Sinopharm both have "pretty good" neutralising effect on variants found in Britain and South Africa as well as a few others, Zhang added.

Sinopharm is currently lab testing for Brazil and Zimbabwe’s coronavirus variants.