UAE: Chinese COVID-19 vaccine is 86 percent effective

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday announced that its trial of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine found it to be 86 percent effective. 

The UAE’s Health and Prevention Ministry released the first public information released on the effectiveness of the vaccine candidate in a statement published by the state-run WAM news agency, writing that health officials “have reviewed Sinopharm CNBG’s interim analysis of the Phase III trials.”

“The analysis shows no serious safety concerns,” the ministry said, although it did not say whether any participants experienced side effects from the vaccine.

In addition to an 86 percent efficacy rate, officials claimed the analysis showed the vaccine to be 100 percent effective at preventing moderate and severe cases of COVID-19. 

The trial, which began in September, tested the vaccine from Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm and included 31,000 volunteers from 125 countries, the ministry added. 

As noted by The Associated Press, it was not immediately clear if the reported results included only those included in UAE testing, or if they also included findings from China and other countries. 

UAE officials and representatives of Sinopharm did not respond to requests for comment when contacted by the AP. 

However, the news service reported that calls to SEHA, the Abu Dhabi health authority, included an option Wednesday for callers to schedule an appointment to receive a “COVID-19 vaccine.”

The health authority was bombarded with calls following the announcement on the effectiveness of the vaccine, according to the AP. 

The Chinese vaccine has already been approved for emergency use in a few countries, with Sinopharm still continuing late-stage clinical trials in 10 nations. 

Last week, a U.S. analyst said that China had given Kim Jong Un, his family and multiple high-ranking North Korean officials an experimental coronavirus vaccine, although it was not clear which candidate had been administered. 

Harry Kazianis, an expert on North Korea at the Center for the National Interest think tank, said that Chinese companies Sinovac Biotech Ltd and CanSinoBio are developing coronavirus vaccines in addition to Sinopharm. 

Meanwhile, Pfizer has reported that its vaccine is 95 percent effective, with Moderna reporting a 94.5 percent efficacy rate for its vaccine candidate. Both have applied for emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. 

Last week, the United Kingdom became the first country to approve the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine, although U.K. regulators on Tuesday warned that people with “significant” histories of allergic reactions should not receive the vaccine, following reports of two people having adverse reactions.