China's Sinopharm says its COVID-19 vaccine has 79.34% protection rate

BEIJING - A COVID-19 vaccine developed by a Beijing firm linked to Sinopharm has a protection rate of 79.34% against the disease, the firm said in a statement on Wednesday.

Beijing Biological Products Institute Co. Ltd said it had applied to the National Medical Products Administration for conditional approval of the vaccine.

The result is based on interim analysis of data from its Phase III clinical trial, but the firm did not give details such as the number of infections in the trial.

President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines said over the weekend that many Filipinos, including some from the military, have already received a COVID-19 vaccine from Sinopharm even as it has yet to get approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque however said on Monday Duterte did not authorize the vaccination of soldiers with Sinopharm’s experimental vaccine against COVID-19.

“I don’t think so. It must have been the decision of the commanders and the soldiers,” Roque said at a news conference.

The Presidential Security Group, which is tasked to provide security detail for the President, said some of their personnel received COVID-19 vaccines starting September, adding that the vaccines were donated. However, they declined to mention the source.

The FDA said donations of COVID-19 vaccines still require clearances from the agency before they are brought to the country.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the COVID-19 vaccines administered to some members of the PSG were smuggled because no authorization was given by the FDA.

PSG commander Brigadier General Jesus Durante III defended his unit's circumventing the rules, saying they got vaccinated to protect the President from the virus. —Reuters/KG, GMA News