China's first single-dose COVID-19 vaccine is here! How safe and effective? Bai Yansong Interview with Academician Chen Wei
my country's first adenovirus vector new crown vaccine was approved for conditional marketing yesterday (25th). This is also the world's first new crown vaccine to enter the clinic. It took more than a year of research and development.
How safe is the vaccine?
How should the public choose?
The second phase of Bai Yansong's new media live program "White Questions" talked to Chen Wei, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, to analyze and answer questions about the development of vaccines.
The annual production capacity of a single injection of new crown vaccine may reach 500 million.
Q: How many doses of adenovirus vector new crown vaccine can be produced after it goes on the market conditionally?
Chen Wei: What we do is genetically engineered vaccines. The biggest feature of genetically engineered vaccines is that they can be produced quickly.
With our current production capacity, there is no problem that the annual production capacity can reach 500 million yuan this year.
There is another premise. Because we are given a single injection, 500 million doses are equivalent to the vaccination of 500 million people, not 250 million people. This is another concept.
Current observational data show that the severe protection rate of the adenovirus vector new crown vaccine has reached more than 90%.
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Q: What is the effective rate of the vaccine when it is listed conditionally?
Chen Wei: Vaccines are the most critical data, so looking at your data on the critical illness protection rate, this is the first point to pay attention to.
Now our critical illness protection rate in Pakistan can reach full protection. In Pakistan, we have done more than 18,000 people (observations). Among all people, our critical illness protection rate can reach more than 90%. This is a gratifying data.
So far, the people we have vaccinated include people in an extreme environment, and no serious adverse reactions related to the vaccine, nor special adverse reactions that are different from other vaccines have been found.
Q: How safe is the vaccine?
Chen Wei: So far, the people we have vaccinated include people in an extreme environment. No serious adverse reactions related to the vaccine or special adverse reactions that are different from other vaccines have not been found.
Six months after the injection of the vaccine, another injection of the enhanced version can increase the immune response by 10 times and 20 times.
Q: How effective is the vaccine developed by Chen Wei's team?
Chen Wei: The data for the 6 months so far is available. It can be supported for 6 months. During the 6 months, you do not need to vaccinate.
What should we do if the epidemic is not over after 6 months? We have also done a booster 6 months later, and found that another injection after the booster can have a 10-fold or 20-fold increase in immune response.
On April 12 last year, the age limit was lifted in the second phase of clinical trials in Wuhan. At that time, the oldest volunteer was 84 years old and successfully produced COVID-19 antibodies.
Q: Is it possible for the vaccine developed by Chen Wei's team to spread to the entire population faster?
Chen Wei: Actually, when we were in the world's first Phase II clinical trial on April 12, 2020, we released the upper age limit.
The oldest volunteer at the time was Mr. Xiong. He was 84 years old because I was double-blind at random. When the blind was unblinded, his antibody was positive, which gave everyone a lot of confidence.
We have completed the clinical trials for 6 to 18 years old, and we have not yet approved the 6 to 18 years old, but the data is completed, we have the safety data for 6 to 18 years old.
There is no doubt that China's vaccine research and development ranks first in the world.
Q: From a global perspective, what is the level of vaccine research and development that we have reached now?
Chen Wei: The first phalanx, undoubtedly, this is something that few countries can do.
Therefore, I said just now that we should neither be arrogant nor underestimate ourselves, learn from others' strengths, and make better and safer vaccines, but we must have confidence in this process.