China’s COVID-19 vaccine induces immune response, found to be safe

Beijing, Nov 18: The results from an early phased randomised clinical trial of a Chinese vaccine for COVID-19 has proven to be safe and induces an antibody response in health volunteers aged 18 to 59 years.

The results were published in The Lancet Infectious Disease Journal. The Chinese trial involved over 700 volunteers recruited in China between April 16 and May 5. The journal said, the vaccine appeared to be safe and well tolerated at all tested doses. The most common reported side effect was pain at the injection site.

Within 14 days of the final dose, study detected robust antibody responses after two injections of the vaccine candidate were given 14 days apart, even at lowest dose tested (3µg).

"Our findings show that CoronaVac is capable of inducing a quick antibody response within four weeks of immunisation by giving two doses of the vaccine at a 14 day interval," said Fengcai Zhu, joint lead author of the study from the Jiangsu Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Nanjing, China.

"We believe that this makes the vaccine suitable for emergency use during the pandemic. In the longer term, when the risk of Covid-19 is lower, our findings suggest that giving two doses with a one month interval, rather than a two week interval, might be more appropriate for inducing stronger and potentially longer-lasting immune responses.

However, further studies are needed to check how long the antibody response remains after either vaccination schedule," he also said.