China Inactivated COVID-19 vaccines better than Pfizer/BioNTech’s ?

China Inactivated COVID-19 vaccines better than Pfizer/BioNTech’s ? China vaccines have an effective rate of 79.34% vs. Pfizer/BioNTech’svaccines at 95%. Which vaccine is better?

China’s first COVID-19 vaccine was approved on the last day of 2020. The Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of China announced that the Sinopharm China Bio-COVID-19 Inactivated Vaccine has been approved by the State Food and Drug Administration for conditional listing with a protection rate of 79.34%.

The point is that this vaccine is free. Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission of China and head of the vaccine research and development team of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council, said that the basic attributes of vaccines are still public products, and the price may vary according to the scale of use. But a major premise is that it must be provided for free for all people.

Vaccines are considered to be the main hope for the control of the COVID-19 epidemic. The listing this time is definitely good news for all mankind. After the news was sent, many people asked: “The effective rate of vaccines in the United States is 95%, while those in China are less than 80%. Is the vaccine in the United States better?” “Can everyone get the vaccine?”

Chinese health experts gave the following answers:

1. Effectiveness is not the only criterion for measuring the quality of a vaccine.

Domestic vaccines and foreign vaccines use different technical routes. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines have been launched in the United States. The vaccine effectiveness rate is 95%. That is to say, people who have not been infected with the COVID-19 virus before will have two vaccines. There is a 95% chance of being immune to the new coronavirus.

The protection rate of the COVID-19 vaccine of Sinopharm Sinopharm Group is 79.34%. Effective data is better abroad, but this is not the only criterion for judging whether a vaccine is good.

Whether the vaccine is good or not, mainly depends on 2 points: safety and effectiveness.

Also consider the difficulty of research and development, production capacity, etc. In terms of safety, domestic vaccines are inactivated vaccines with fewer adverse reactions. According to the previous results, the domestic COVID-19 vaccines-Sinopharm and Kexing Biotech’s vaccines have not found adverse reactions of grade 3 or above (ie, serious adverse reactions). The degree of adverse reactions that have occurred are relatively mild, and most of them can recover on their own [1,3]. The adverse reactions of vaccination are divided into local and systemic:

• (1) Among the reported local adverse reactions, pain was the most common, as were redness, swelling, itching, rash, and induration.
• (2) Among the reported systemic adverse reactions, fever is the most common in Sinopharm vaccine, fatigue is the most common in Kexing Biological, and others include cough, diarrhea, headache, nausea and vomiting, itching and muscle pain in non-vaccinated areas, Acute allergic reaction, skin and mucous membrane abnormalities, lack of appetite.
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On December 19, 2020, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of China issued a press conference that there is a set of data on the emergency use of the COVID-19 vaccine in China, which can also reflect safety from the side [4]:

• (1) From July to now, more than 1 million doses of emergency vaccination have been accumulated, and no serious adverse reactions have occurred;
• (2) More than 60,000 of them went to high-risk areas abroad, and there were no reports of serious infections, and there was a significant difference in infection risk between the vaccinated and unvaccinated groups;
• (3) The emergency vaccines of these two companies have also carried out phase III clinical trials overseas, and a total of 75,000 people have been vaccinated with 150,000 doses, and there are no serious safety risks.
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Let’s take a look at Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine. “New England Journal” published the Phase 3 clinical trial data of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine[5]:

• (1) The incidence of local adverse reactions is high. Among the local adverse reactions, the most common is pain at the injection site, which occurs in a relatively high proportion. After the first injection and the second injection, approximately 71% and 66% of the elderly reported pain, while the proportions in the young group were 83% and 78%, respectively; but less than 1% of the vaccine group volunteers reported pain Severe pain.
• (2) Higher systemic adverse reactions. According to the currently published data, fatigue and headache are more common among the systemic adverse reactions caused by the vaccine injection. After the second injection, the incidence of young people is 59% and 52%, and the elderly are 51% and 39%.

The UK has been vaccinated on a large scale, that is, Pfizer’s mRNA vaccine. Two medical staff with a history of severe allergies developed allergic reactions after vaccination.

On December 9, the British Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency issued a statement: Anyone with a history of vaccine, drug or food allergies should not receive the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, and should not give the vaccine to anyone who has an allergic reaction after the first injection of the vaccine Perform the second injection [3].

Generally speaking, China’s domestic vaccines are inactivated vaccines, with relatively mature vaccine technology, mature technology paths, and rapid development speed.

But the disadvantages are: the preparation process requires the cultivation of live viruses, the preparation process is relatively complicated, the cost is high, and the yield is average. Since the inactivated virus cannot replicate and cannot induce cellular immunity, the immunity period is short, and multiple vaccination is generally required.

2. Ordinary people can be vaccinated, but these kinds of “special groups” should consult a doctor before deciding whether to vaccinate

On the morning of December 19, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council of China stated at a press conference that when winter and spring arrive, COVID-19 vaccination will be carried out for some key populations.

After the vaccine is launched, the elderly, high-risk groups with underlying diseases, and the general population will be vaccinated gradually and orderly.

Such people are not included in the phase 3 clinical trial, and should consult a physician to decide whether to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. “Special groups” also include:

• (1) Patients suffering from severe heart, lung, liver, kidney disease and diabetes complications;
• (2) Patients undergoing immunosuppressive therapy and anti-tuberculosis therapy;
• (3) Patients suspected of being infected with COVID-19;
• (4) Patients who are in the acute disease stage;
• (5) Patients with fever.

There are currently no relevant data for these types of people, and they are not included in the trial because they are worried about their own disease reactions and vaccine side effects, which will interfere with the results of clinical trials:

The first group of people is safe to vaccinate inactivated vaccines under stable conditions.

For the latter four types of people, it is recommended to consider whether to vaccinate after the disease is stable/controlled. Under normal circumstances, it is safe for immunosuppressed people to receive inactivated vaccines.

(source:internet, reference only)

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