A health worker prepares to administer the Sinovac vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Indonesia. AFP
A health worker prepares to administer the Sinovac vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Indonesia. AFP
A health worker prepares to administer the Sinovac vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Indonesia. AFP
A health worker prepares to administer the Sinovac vaccine against the Covid-19 coronavirus at Zainoel Abidin Hospital in Indonesia. AFP

Chinese Covid vaccine booster 'could upgrade shot against variants'


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China's Covid-19 vaccines using the inactivated virus can be upgraded to cope with new variants in about two months, according to a Chinese medical expert.

Shao Yiming, a scientist with the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention agency, was speaking to the Global Times, in a report published on Tuesday.

There are concerns that vaccines developed over the past year may be less effective again new variants of Covid-19 discovered recently in the UK and South Africa.

Biotech company Moderna said on Monday it would test a new booster shot aimed at the South African variant, after concluding the antibody response could be diminished.

Vaccines from Sinovac Biotech and China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) are being used in China and overseas. The Sinopharm vaccine is approved for use in the UAE.

These vaccines contain the inactivated virus that cannot replicate in human cells.

The neutralising ability of antibodies induced by Chinese vaccines, which were developed in accordance with the variant spreading in Wuhan city in late 2019, appeared weaker against recently discovered variants in the UK and South Africa, the Global Times quoted Mr Shao as saying.

He cited studies by Chinese vaccine companies and labs.

The redesign of inactivated Covid-19 vaccines could take longer than for vaccines based on mRNA technology, which does not require cultivating and inactivating the virus, according to Mr Shao, who participates in technical reviews of China's Covid-19 vaccines.

The mRNA technology is used in vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.

The Global Times is published by the People's Daily, the official newspaper of China's ruling Communist Party.

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Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million

Lowest Test scores

26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955

30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896

30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924

35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899

36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932

36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902

36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020

38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019

42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946

42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions
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