On the 26th, Sinopharm's inactivated vaccine for the new coronavirus of China Biological Aomi Kerong variant was approved by the State Food and Drug Administration.
Why do we need vaccines specifically for Ami kerong? When will the new vaccine be available? How to get the new vaccine after that, and what is the vaccination strategy? On the 27th, Sinopharm China Biological Organization Media Communication Will answer the above questions one by one.
Why is there a need for a specialized Ami kerong vaccine?
As early as last December, shortly after the emergence of the Omiljunn variant, the World Health Organization issued a reminder that the preliminary evidence suggests that the Omiljunn variant may weaken the effectiveness of the NEW CROWN vaccine, and people are at higher risk of repeated infection with the strain. This hint was confirmed as Omikeron gradually became the dominant strain.
Zhang Yuntao, chief scientist and vice president of Sinopharm China Biologics, said: When the neutralizing antibodies produced by the prototype strains have a significant decline in the neutralizing activity of Aomi Kerong, it is necessary to develop new vaccines. The results of the current study show that the neutralizing activity of neutralizing antibodies does drop significantly when faced with Omi kerong.
To this end, vaccine researchers at home and abroad are seeking effective vaccines against Omi kerong to improve the protection effect of vaccines. But as of now, when foreign countries are developing a new generation of Omilon vaccines, they have not obtained better results than the original strain in terms of immunogenicity.
When will the new vaccine be available?
The new vaccine is planned for clinical research in Chinese mainland and Hong Kong in the short term. Clinical research work will be carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines for vaccine research and development and evaluation, and the relevant clinical programs need to be further discussed with experts and drug regulatory departments to determine, which is expected to take about 3-4 months to complete.
According to reports, clinical trials in Hong Kong are in the process of intensive preparation, and formal clinical trials and vaccinations can begin in the near future.
Can breakthrough infections be stopped?
In the upcoming clinical trial study, the research team will be highly concerned about whether the vaccine can stimulate the body to produce specific neutralizing antibodies against Omi kerong.
"This is the core issue of vaccine effectiveness and will be observed continuously in clinical studies." Zhang Yuntao said that further effects need to be verified in humans to give clinical data on the effectiveness of the vaccine.
According to reports, in the process of research and development of new vaccines, the research team also pays great attention to the situation of cellular immunity, and also designs continuous detection of cellular immunity in the design process of clinical research. Cellular immunity will compensate for the generally poor durability of neutralizing antibodies against the new coronavirus.
How to get the new vaccine after that?
In view of the current stage of vaccination of the new crown vaccine in the mainland, the clinical research program of the new vaccine will be carried out according to two routes.
Clinical trials of the new vaccine were not designed as a fourth dose of the vaccine. The upcoming Omiljung vaccine will be carried out for two groups of people, a part of which is those who have been vaccinated with two and three doses of inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, and the follow-up clinical study of one and two doses of Omilon vaccination will be carried out.
Zhang Yuntao said: "We also launched a vaccination study for blank populations. "The Omicron vaccine is injected directly in people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 to observe its safety and immunogenicity, and if data are available in this part of the clinical study, the blank population can be directly vaccinated with the new vaccine."
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