CanSinoBIO mulls booster shots to ensure long-term Covid-19 immunity

 

China's CanSino Biologics Inc said the efficacy rate for its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine may fall over time although it should still have a rate of 50 percent or more five to six months after inoculation.

A second shot given to trial participants six months after their first injection could offer substantial protection, Zhu Tao, CanSinoBIO's chief scientific officer, said in an online presentation last night.

"A booster shot six months later led to a seven-to-10-times increase in neutralising antibody levels, so we expect in this case efficacy could reach over 90 percent," Zhu said, though he cautioned more clinical trial data was needed for more precise estimates.

The company in February reported interim data that showed the shot was 68.83 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19 disease two weeks after vaccination, but the rate fell to 65.28 percent after four weeks.

The February data reflected a shorter time span after the inoculation, Zhu said.

The vaccine has been approved in China, Pakistan, Hungary and Mexico.

CanSinoBIO is also planning a clinical trial in China for an inhaled version of the vaccine.

- Reuters