China’s COVID Vaccine Triggers Immune Response in Mid-Stage Tests

The trial candidates have so far only reported mild side effects such as redness, swelling and injection pain.

(Photo: iStock)

China’s Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a vaccine, ZF2001, that researchers claimed on Tuesday, 22 December has triggered an immunity response of neutral antibodies in participants of early and mid-stage trials, according to Reuters.

The vaccine has been developed by CAS with a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products and has conducted two trials with 950 Chinese participants between the ages of 18-59.

According to a paper published on Tuesday by Chinese institutions, first accessed by Reuters, neutralising antibodies have been detected among 93 percent of participants who received three shots of the vaccine.

In the paper’s findings, the trial candidates have so far only reported mild side effects such as redness, swelling and injection pain.

ZF2001, as a protein subunit vaccine, only uses a part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus instead of the entire germ. It has triggered a moderate immune response in the cells which is essential to a body’s immunity, reported Reuters.

However, according to researchers, based on only antibody readings, there is not sufficient information yet to derive how effective the vaccine is to protect participants from the virus, reported Reuters.

ZF2001 is amongst five Chinese vaccines to have entered Phase-III trials.

(With inputs from Reuters)