In Phase I and Phase II trials, the vaccine produced lower levels of antibodies in human blood vessels than in recovered neocoronavirus patients, and the percentage of adverse reactions in participants was as high as 38%, according to information published in the British medical journal The Lancet. Experts cited by the China Times point out that information on the Phase 3 trial in mainland China is not yet available, but the risks of the vaccine, which has been used by hundreds of thousands of people and foreigners, are worrisome.
According to the China Times today, “The Tickle” said that the data of the Chinese Xincun vaccine trial is worrying, with low effectiveness and many side effects. According to the report, the Voice of America quoted a study by “Tickle”, which said that if we compare the vaccines of American pharmaceutical companies Moderna and Pfizer, the level of antibodies produced by them is equal to or even higher than the level of antibodies produced by patients recovered from the new coronavirus, but the level of antibodies produced by mainland China’s Kexing vaccine is relatively lower than the level of antibodies produced by patients recovered from the new coronavirus. In terms of effectiveness, both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines achieved about 95%, but the report does not contain specific information on the effectiveness of the Kexing vaccine. However, Zhong Nanshan, a well-known epidemiologist in mainland China, has stated that both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are more than 90% effective, and that the mainland vaccines are about the same.
According to the report, in the section on adverse reactions, Oxford University scholar Fu Limen said, “Kexing’s vaccine in mainland China has just released the data of phase 2 trials, and it does not look good, as the level of antibodies produced in humans is lower than that of Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, and the side effects are greater, such as pain, nausea and other severe reactions. From the initial data, 743 participants had adverse reactions at a rate of up to 38% in some trial groups. Therefore, given a choice, Western vaccines approved by regulatory agencies in developed countries are more likely to be recommended.
The co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine and director of the Center for Vaccine Education at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Paul R. Schwartz, reported that the vaccine is being used in the United States. Dr. Paul Offit questioned mainland China’s delay in providing specific information on effectiveness and safety, “Pfizer and Moderna have provided information, there’s no reason why China shouldn’t, they would have been ahead of us. When I was asked which would be the first commercial vaccine, I said it should be an inactivated vaccine from China, but we haven’t seen any information from Phase 3 trials yet.”
Currently, four vaccines have entered Phase 3 clinical trials in China, three of which are traditional inactivated vaccines, including the aforementioned Kexing vaccine, while the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are “messenger RNA” or mRNA vaccines. Compared with inactivated vaccines, mRNA vaccines are cheaper to produce and can be produced quickly and in large quantities. In terms of effectiveness, mRNA vaccines can cope with virus mutation to a certain extent, and the immunity period after injection is longer. However, inactivated vaccines have their own advantages, such as low temperature requirements for storage and transportation, and can be stored at 2-8 degrees Celsius for 1 to 3 years. In terms of risks, inactivated vaccines have been around for decades and are technically mature. mRNA vaccines are the first of their kind in human history and may have some unknown risks.
According to Stephen D. Schwartz, director of the Center for Global Health Policy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the risks are unknown. Dr. Stephen Morrison pointed out that the problem with mainland vaccines is not so much the type, but the lack of transparency of information, with the mainland government taking a shortcut. There are currently two inactivated neoconazole vaccines in China that have not yet completed clinical phase 3 trials, but have already been administered on a large scale, possibly to hundreds of thousands of people, which no country has ever dared to do.
In addition, according to the report, there have been nearly 10 vaccine scandals on the mainland between 2004 and 2018, including the famous Changchun Changsheng Biological Company case. Among the pharmaceutical companies that entered Phase 3 trials this time, the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, as well as the aforementioned Kexing, have also been involved in vaccine scandals. According to Morrison, many low-income countries use vaccines from China, and China is ahead of the United States in the race for diplomacy, prestige, epidemic recovery, and influence, but the race is not over yet. It is not yet known if the continent’s vaccines are safe and effective, and if they are not, and they have already been administered to a large number of its own citizens and people in other countries, that could become a big problem, which hopefully will not happen.
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