BEIJING/ISLAMABAD: A day after the first batch of CanSino Covid-19 vaccines that the government purchased from China arrived in Islamabad, the manufacturer said the efficacy rate for its single-dose drug may fall over time although it should still have a rate of 50 per cent or more five to six months after inoculation.
CanSino is one of the four vaccines approved by the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP), the other three being China’s state-owned Sinopharm, Russia’s Sputnik-V, and the Oxford University-AstraZeneca vaccine.
The disclosure comes days after the government announced to import CanSino vaccine jabs in bulk to package 3 million doses locally. “We will be getting the bulk vaccine by mid-April from Cansino, from which 3 million doses can be made,” Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar said Tuesday.
A second shot given to trial participants six months after their first injection could offer substantial protection, Zhu Tao, CanSinoBIO’s chief scientific officer, said in an online presentation late on Wednesday.
“A booster shot six months later led to a seven times to 10-times increase in neutralising antibody levels, so we expect in this case efficacy could reach over 90 percent,” Zhu said, though he cautioned more clinical trial data was needed for more precise estimates.
The company in February reported interim data that showed the shot was 68.83 per cent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 disease two weeks after vaccination but the rate fell to 65.28 per cent after four weeks.
The February data reflected a shorter time span after the inoculation, Zhu said. CanSinoBIO is also planning a clinical trial in China for an inhaled version of the vaccine.
Pakistan is experiencing a third, deadlier wave with a sharp rise in new Covid-19 infections and deaths. It recorded 98 deaths in the last 24 hours, and 4,974 new infections, with a transmission rate of 9.94 per cent — meaning for every 100 individuals tested, 9.94 per cent tested positive for coronavirus.
The country has recorded 14,530 deaths and 672,931 infections since the pandemic began. Around two-thirds of ventilators and 80 per cent of oxygenated beds are occupied in hospitals in major cities, according to official data.
VACCINE PROCUREMENT:
Last week, the government announced to have bought more than 1 million doses of Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines, the country’s first purchase from any manufacturer having previously relied on donations.
“We have purchased 1 million and 60,000 doses of Sinopharm and CanSino vaccines,” Asad said at the time. “We will be receiving the consignment before the end of March.”
“We want them to deliver that 7 million by the end of April, but they have not confirmed this yet. They might have some supply issues,” he added.
Authorities have so far relied on donations and on allocations from the World Health Organisation (WHO)-backed COVAX/GAVI initiative for developing nations.
The first COVAX/GAVI batch of up to 4 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine had been due to be delivered in March but was delayed due to the issues the vaccine was facing worldwide, Asad said.
The government launched a vaccination campaign for the general public on March 10, starting with older people. The drive had begun with a focus on the oldest people in the community, generally over the age of 80, Minister of State for National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said.
The government is aiming to vaccinate around 70 million people out of the 220 million population to reach sufficient community immunity. 100 million people under 18 years of age not yet required to be vaccinated, it says.
With additional input from Reuters
