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| A medical worker holds a dose of the Sinovac vaccine at a district health facility as Indonesia begins mass vaccination for COVID-19, starting with its healthcare workers, in Jakarta, on Jan 14, 2021. (File photo by=REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] China's Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine was 98 percent effective at preventing death and 96 percent effective at preventing hospitalization among a group of inoculated Indonesian medical staff, a study conducted by the country's health ministry has found, Reuters reported.
The findings were based on data from 120,000 healthcare workers in Jakarta who had received the vaccine between January and March this year, lead researcher and health official Pandji Dhewantara told a briefing on Wednesday. Phase 3 trials of the vaccine, called CoronaVac, have produced varying results globally, but Pandji said the study found it also prevented symptomatic COVID-19 in 94 percent of the group. "We see data from the task force that the incidence of morbidity and mortality for health workers tends to decrease," health ministry official Siti Nadia Tarmizi said at the news conference.
The promising findings come after Indonesia's phase 3 trials showed the vaccine was 65 percent effective. Trials in Turkey showed it was 91.25 percent effective, while researchers in Brazil said it was 50.4 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections. CoronaVac is efficacious in preventing COVID-19 in adults under 60, but some quality data on the risk of serious adverse effects was lacking, World Health Organization experts found.
