CoronaVac proves 83.5% effective against COVID

Two doses of the CoronaVac vaccine developed by Chinese drug maker Sinovac offer 83.5 percent protection against symptomatic COVID-19, according to a new study published in the top medical journal The Lancet, Report informs referring to China Global Television Network.

A large-scale randomized controlled phase-3 trial of the inactivated vaccine, involving more than 10,000 participants aged 18-59, was conducted in Turkey between September 2020 and January 2021. The participants were given two doses of CoronaVac 14 days apart.

Interim data from the trial suggests that the vaccine is safe and induces a robust immune response.

"One of the advantages of CoronaVac is that it does not need to be frozen, making it easier to transport and distribute. This could be particularly important for global distribution, as some countries may struggle to store large amounts of vaccine at very low temperatures," said the lead author of the paper, Professor Murat Akova from Hacettepe University Medical School in Turkey.