Andina

Peru's Health Ministry: Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine's efficacy is 79.34%

Photo: ANDINA/Juan Carlos Guzmán Negrini

Photo: ANDINA/Juan Carlos Guzmán Negrini

09:30 | Lima, Mar. 6.

The Ministry of Health (Minsa) on Saturday affirmed that the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine reached an efficacy of 79.34% in phase III of clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to the Beijing Institute of Biological Products.

Minsa made this clarification after Ernesto Bustamante said in a local TV program that Sinopharm vaccine's Wuhan strain had only 33% efficacy, while the Beijing strain vaccine had 11.5%.

In a statement, Minsa affirmed that —in addition to the reports of those trials in the UAE— the scientific journal The Lancet published results of phase I and II studies indicating the neutralizing capacity of the vaccine in different age groups.

Minsa also recalled that Peru's General Directorate for Medicines, Input, and Drugs (Digemid) on January 26 approved the exceptional sanitary authorization for the import and use by the public health system of the Sars 2 SINOPHARM vaccine —based on the scientific information previously cited.

On this basis, the Peruvian State made the first acquisition of one million of these vaccines to launch the immunization in Peru, as authorized and underway in China, the UAE, Bahrain, Serbia, Zimbabwe, and Saudi Arabia.

"We alert the public not to let themselves be surprised by information issued by unofficial sources without any scientific rigor," the Ministry of Health concluded.

(END) NDP/MVB

Published: 3/6/2021