Sinopharm Covid vaccine seen as less effective in Bahrain Study

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Covid-19 vaccine made by China’s Sinopharm was less effective than others at preventing infection, hospitalization and death, especially among people over 50, according to a study by the kingdom of Bahrain and Columbia University researchers.

Chinese vaccines have become a key tool of Beijing’s international diplomacy, especially in developing nations unable to secure sufficient doses of U.S. and European-made shots. Despite high levels of inoculation with the Sinopharm vaccine, Bahrain in May started giving booster shots to vulnerable citizens using a different shot made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE . It now also offers booster shots for other vaccines.

The study, posted online this week ahead of peer review, shows that all the vaccines administered since December in the Persian Gulf island nation—which also include Covishield, an Indian-made version of AstraZeneca ’s vaccine, and the Russian-made Sputnik V—were effective in reducing severe illness compared to the unvaccinated population.

But the percentage of deaths among all PCR positive post-vaccination Covid-19 cases was 0.46% for Sinopharm recipients compared to 0.15% for Pfizer-BioNTech and 0.03% for AstraZeneca, the study showed. That trend was consistent for infection and hospitalization, even with the advent of the Delta variant. Sputnik V results were intermediate.

“They found that there is significant difference between hospitalization, ICU admission and death in favor of Pfizer compared to Sinopharm, especially in older populations and in the context of the emergence of the Delta variant,” said co-author Dr. Jaleela Al-Sayed Jawad. (The Wall Street Journal)