The level of efficacy provided by the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine is compatible with that required by the World Health Organisation, the chairman of a WHO panel said.
Alejandro Cravioto’s comments were based on data provided by the Chinese manufacturer in a closed-door meeting to WHO experts last week.
The meeting also discussed the efficacy of Sinovac, another Chinese-made vaccine, against Covid-19.
Covid-19 was deemed such a severe disease, that if a vaccine is only 50 per cent effective, it's still worth using.
Dr Cravioto said the information shared during the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts meeting “clearly indicates that they have levels of efficacy that would be compatible with the requirements that WHO has asked for this vaccine”.
“That means about 50 per cent [efficacy] and preferably close to, or above 70 per cent and of course, they have all the safety data to show that this vaccine would cause no harm in humans when used,” he said.
The vaccines have not yet received WHO approval.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said last month that Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines could receive WHO emergency listing "quite soon".
A decision is expected by the end of April.
The Sinopharm vaccine factory in China
Dr Cravioto said the vaccines would first require emergency use listing from the WHO, or from a body considered by the organisation as a “stringent regulatory authority”, before Sage experts can make recommendations about their use.
“The 50 per cent efficacy threshold set for Covid-19 vaccines is because Covid-19 was deemed such a severe disease, that if a vaccine is only 50 per cent effective, it’s still worth using,” said Dr Lee Hampton, a paediatrician and medical epidemiologist with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, in an online explainer by WHO about Covid-19 vaccine efficacy.
A study in Brazil showed Sinovac's vaccine to be 50.4 per cent effective.
Sinopharm, the most widely available vaccine in the UAE, was found to be 86 per cent effective in preventing infections in local trials.
The manufacturer later revised this to 79 per cent, after studies in several countries.
Emirati officials, however, said Sinopharm had proved to be 100 per cent effective against the development of serious disease – an important metric.
Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chairwoman of the National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee, told a conference on the Covid-19 response in the UAE that there were no critical care admissions or deaths among those who had been vaccinated in Abu Dhabi.
People who were infected after taking both doses of the vaccine were mostly asymptomatic or presented only mild symptoms, she said.
Efficacy of other vaccines
The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, one of two in use against Covid-19 using new mRNA technology, surprised many scientists by offering 95 per cent protection against the virus.
But it does not prevent severe disease completely.
In the Phase 3 Pfizer trial, there were 10 severe cases of Covid-19, one of which occurred in the vaccine group.
The vaccine has, however, been extremely effective in the real world, with at least 97 per cent protection against symptomatic Covid-19 cases, admission to hospital, severe and critical cases and deaths in Israel.
Other vaccines found to protect against severe Covid-19 complications include AstraZeneca and Moderna, which both offered 100 per cent protection against severe disease in trials.
Sinopharm has not yet released detailed Phase 3 data on the vaccine’s efficacy in a peer-reviewed journal, like other manufacturers such as Pfizer or Sputnik.
MATCH INFO
Qalandars 109-3 (10ovs)
Salt 30, Malan 24, Trego 23, Jayasuriya 2-14
Bangla Tigers (9.4ovs)
Fletcher 52, Rossouw 31
Bangla Tigers win by six wickets
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
How to watch Ireland v Pakistan in UAE
When: The one-off Test starts on Friday, May 11
What time: Each day’s play is scheduled to start at 2pm UAE time.
TV: The match will be broadcast on OSN Sports Cricket HD. Subscribers to the channel can also stream the action live on OSN Play.
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
RESULT
Bayer Leverkusen 2 Bayern Munich 4
Leverkusen: Alario (9'), Wirtz (89')
Bayern: Coman (27'), Goretzka (42'), Gnabry (45'), Lewandowski (66')
AIDA%20RETURNS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECarol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAida%20Abboud%2C%20Carol%20Mansour%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203.5.%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
Play-off fixtures
Two-legged ties to be played November 9-11 and November 12-14
- Northern Ireland v Switzerland
- Croatia v Greece
- Denmark v Ireland
- Sweden v Italy
Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Astra%20Tech%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMarch%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounder%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EAbdallah%20Abu%20Sheikh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20technology%20investment%20and%20development%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%24500m%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.