Some Omicron sub-variants escaping antibodies from Sinopharm shot
A small Chinese study detailed in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal showed neutralising antibodies against some Omicron sub-variants were largely undetectable after two doses of a Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine, with a booster shot only partly restoring them.To get more news about sinopharm vaccine: latest update, you can visit shine news official website.
The study comes as China, which has approved only locally developed COVID shots including the Sinopharm vaccine, strives to improve vaccination rates, maintaining a "dynamic zero COVID" policy aimed at eradicate all outbreaks while many countries have adopted an approach of learning to live with the virus.The vaccine, BBIBP-CorV, is one of the two Sinopharm COVID shots approved for use in China, and is also the main shot that the state-owned firm has exported.
Among 25 individuals who received two doses of BBIBP-CorV vaccine, the neutralising activity against sub-variants such as BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 "was not or only minimally detectable", researchers said in correspondence published on Monday.
Neutralising activity against those sub-variants was observed in just 24-48% of subjects who received a BBIBP-CorV booster shot after the two-dose product, researchers said, citing results from a group of 25 participants.The rate improved slightly, to 30-53%, for those who received a third shot made by a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products (300122.SZ), another vaccine approved for use in China, according to data from another group of 30 subjects.
The study did not discuss the boosters' efficacy, a rate that reflects how well they could lower the risk of COVID disease or death, which is usually observed in large clinical trials.
This cross-sectional survey-based study was carried out from 10 January to 30 April 2021 to evaluate Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine adverse reactions among residents in the UAE. The study utilized a self-administered online survey created on Google Forms which had been randomly delivered to individuals (aged ≥18 years) using social media sites (Facebook, Email and WhatsApp). Potential participants were directed to a webpage with a brief introduction to the aim and purpose of the study and instructions on how to complete the survey. Informed consent that included statements about voluntary participation and anonymity was sought from all the respondents prior to data collection by sending a standardized general invitation letter with the survey link to accept or decline participation in the study. Participants who declined consent were not permitted to open the survey and participate in the study, and participants could withdraw from the survey at any time in line with the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki Ethical principles (Aresté and Salgueira, 2013). Persons who clicked on the link were directed to Google Forms and, to avoid issues of missing data, they had to respond to all the questions or were unable to proceed to the next section of the survey. No incentive or compensation was given to participants (Elm et al., 2007).
Out of 1102 surveys received from respondents, 1080 participants aged ≥18 years, from different emirates and nationalities, were included in this study. The study sample included participants who were either vaccinated with the first dose or second dose of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine and those who did not receive any COVID-19 vaccine during the early peak of the vaccination campaign in the UAE. Individuals aged <18 years and non-residents in the UAE were excluded from this study as they were not permitted to receive any vaccine type in the UAE during the conduct of this study. Individuals who had received a COVID-19 vaccine other than Sinopharm were not included in the study, based on the study's aims.