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Omicron Variants Evade Antibodies From Sinopharm Shot: Study

Among 25 individuals who received two doses of the BBIBP-CorV vaccine, neutralising activity against sub-variants such as BA.2.12.1 and BA.4/BA.5 “was not or only minimally detectable”


A Chinese study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has shown Omicron sub-variants eluding neutralising antibodies after two doses of a Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.
A Sinopharm sign is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing, on Sept 5, 2020. File photo: Tingshu Wang, Reuters.

 

A Chinese study in The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal has shown Omicron sub-variants eluding neutralising antibodies after two doses of a Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine.

The study comes as Beijing, which has approved only locally developed Covid shots including the Sinopharm vaccine, strives to improve vaccination rates, maintaining a “dynamic zero Covid” policy.

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, 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.

 

  • Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard

 

 

 

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Jim Pollard

Jim Pollard is an Australian journalist based in Thailand since 1999. He worked for News Ltd papers in Sydney, Perth, London and Melbourne before travelling through SE Asia in the late 90s. He was a senior editor at The Nation for 17+ years and has a family in Bangkok.