Tue January, 2021, Age: 3 years
Researchers and health experts are still struggling to determine the efficacy rate of one of the leading coronavirus vaccine candidates for developing nations. The vaccine is produced in China by a pharmaceutical company called Sinovac Biotech Ltd. The Sinovac vaccine will shortly be rolled out in mass inoculation campaigns, most notably in Indonesia and Brazil. Yet, the drug’s effectiveness in preventing the coronavirus is still unknown with estimates ranging from 50%-91.5%. One of the issues that has contributed to the uncertainty surrounding the Sinovac vaccine is that trial studies have been conducted on population segments that are too small to draw meaningful conclusions from. The one Sinovac study that has been conducted on a large enough population segment, a study recently conducted in Brazil, has been beset with reporting anomalies and misdrawn data. China is hoping to lead the charge on providing a vaccine to the developing world, hoping that its leadership in the pandemic will translate into diplomatic gains.