On Monday (June 1), the World Health Organization approved China’s Coxing vaccine, CoronaVac, for emergency use. This is the second Chinese vaccine after the Chinese National Medicine vaccine was included in the emergency use list by the WHO. This means that Coxing Vaccine can enter the global vaccine sharing program Covax to help alleviate the current uneven distribution of vaccines.
WHO’s recommendations for use
The WHO stated that based on existing evidence, it is recommended that the vaccine be used for people aged 18 and over in two doses with an interval of 2-4 weeks. The results of the vaccine efficacy study show that the vaccine can prevent 51% of the vaccinated persons from showing symptoms of the disease, and prevent 100% of the study population from experiencing severe new coronary symptoms and hospitalization.
Since very few people over 60 years of age participate in clinical trials, it is impossible to estimate the efficacy for this age group. Despite this, WHO does not recommend setting an upper age limit for the vaccine, because subsequent data collected during use in multiple countries and immunogenicity auxiliary data indicate that the vaccine may also have a protective effect on the elderly. There is no reason to believe that the safety of vaccines will differ between the elderly and the young. The World Health Organization recommends that countries where the elderly population receive the vaccine carry out safety and effectiveness monitoring, verify the expected impact, and contribute to the increase in the above recommendations in all countries.
The effect of Coxing vaccine in small towns in Brazil
Image source,Nelson Almeida / Getty
After all adults in a small town in Brazil were vaccinated with Coxing vaccination, the death rate of the new crown in the town was reduced by 95%.
In May, the WHO announced the start of the approval of Kexing vaccine, during which it requested Kexing to provide more details on the safety of the vaccine and requested data on Kexing Holdings’ production process to assess whether it meets WHO standards. Therefore, the decision was postponed to June.
Reuters reported that according to the Phase III clinical trial data submitted by Kexing to the WHO, the effective rate of Kexing vaccine is between 51% and 84%. Earlier this year, Brazil, Indonesia, and Turkey announced clinical trial results that the vaccine’s effective rate ranged from 50% to 90%, raising questions about its true effectiveness.
Before the WHO officially made the decision to include the Coxing vaccine in the emergency use list, the vaccine has been used in regions and countries other than China, including Chile, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Thailand, and Turkey.
After all adults in a small town in Brazil were vaccinated with Coxing vaccination, the death rate of the new crown in the town was reduced by 95%.
Between February and April this year, all adults in the town of Serrana, a town of 45,000 people in southeastern Brazil, were vaccinated against Koschenkellev.
This is a joint study between the Butantan Institute, a public research center in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and China Science and Technology Corporation.
According to the presentation of the final result by the Butan Institute, from early February to mid-May, the number of deaths from the new crown in Serana fell by 95%. The researchers said that the number of symptomatic cases fell by 80%, and the number of hospitalizations related to the disease fell by 86%.
According to the research team, those who have not been vaccinated are also protected by the reduction in virus circulation. Research results show that after 75% of people are fully vaccinated, the pandemic can be controlled. Ricardo Palacios, director of research at the Butan Institute, said the key figure is 75%.
He said: “The most important result is that we can control this pandemic without vaccinating everyone.”
Palacios also said that the number of confirmed cases of children and adolescents who have not received the new crown vaccine has declined. This may indicate that if the school is to resume classes, there is no need to vaccinate children.
He also added that the vaccine is also effective against the mutant virus originally called P.1 and now called Gamma. The mutant virus Gamma was first discovered in the northern city of Manaus and was accused of causing the surge in cases across Brazil.
Brazil’s death toll from the new crown is second only to the United States, ranking second in the world, and third in the number of cases, with more than 16.5 million confirmed cases. Serana is about 315 kilometers (195 miles) from São Paulo, and the cities around Serana are struggling to cope with the surge in COVID-19 infection rates. Ribeirão Preto, 24 kilometers away, has a population of 710,000 and is currently closed.
The results of the test may provide more reference to more than a dozen countries that are using the vaccine. The test conducted in Serrana is the first of its kind in the world. The results showed that 14 days after the second injection of the vaccine, there were no reports of serious side effects of the vaccine and no deaths related to the new coronavirus.
What does it mean to the world?
At present, there is a serious problem of uneven distribution of vaccines worldwide. The WHO is facing international pressure to help distribute more vaccines to poor countries.
In the African countries of Comeroon and Zambia, only 0.1% of the population received two doses of the new crown vaccine. According to an article in the international authoritative academic journal Nature, less than 1% of the population in low-income countries are currently vaccinated against the new crown.
Obtaining WHO’s emergency use approval means that Coxing Vaccine can enter the global vaccine sharing program Covax.
“The world urgently needs a variety of new crown vaccines to solve the huge global access unfair problem,” said Mariângela Simão, Assistant Director-General for Health Products Access of WHO. “We urge manufacturers to participate in the global access mechanism for new crown vaccines. Its knowledge and data, and contribute to the control of the pandemic.”
The Koshin/Kellife vaccine is an inactivated vaccine, which is easy to store and very easy to manage. It is especially suitable for countries with scarce resources.
On April 1, 2021, Kexing Vaccine Stock Solution Workshop (Phase III) was completed and put into production. After the start of production, the annual production capacity of Kexing’s new crown vaccine will exceed 2 billion doses. According to Hong Kong’s Ta Kung Pao, over 430 million doses of Kexing vaccine have been vaccinated globally. Kexing Vaccine is the most widely-available new crown vaccine in mainland China, and it is also China’s new crown vaccine with the largest export volume and vaccination volume.