UAE says China's state-backed COVID-19 vaccine is 86% effective

[perugu_vada]

A Chinese COVID-19 vaccine appears to have crossed the finish line—at least in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

On Wednesday, the UAE said a vaccine candidate from Chinese state-owned Sinopharm was 86% effective in protecting against COVID-19 infections based on data analysis from 31,000 volunteers, according to the UAE’s state-owned media outlet The National. The UAE has now officially registered the vaccine for public use, according to the report, and will begin widespread distribution to its population this week.

 

Sinopharm had tested two different vaccine candidates in the UAE that were both based on deploying inactivated forms of the virus to fight infections. In the announcement, the UAE indicated it has opted for one of the two candidates—a vaccine originally developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, rather than the one made by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products.