Delta variant: Chinese COVID vaccine largely retains its effect on the strain

A COVID-19 vaccine developed by a unit of Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products in China largely retained its neutralizing effect against the Delta variant, but there was a slight reduction, Chinese researchers found in a lab study.

Scientists and regulators are watching closely to see if the Delta variant, which is significantly more contagious than the original variant of the novel coronavirus, will make available vaccines and treatments insufficient.

However, the researchers cautioned that clinical trial or real-world use data is still needed to determine how well the shot can prevent people from getting sick from the variants.

Efficacy results from the phase III clinical trial have not yet been published for the vaccine.

The study, where samples from 28 people were collected and tested, also found that samples from those who received their third dose at longer intervals between the second stroke showed greater activity against the variants.

More than 100 million doses of Zhifei’s vaccine, dubbed ZF2001 and approved for emergency use in China and Uzbekistan, have been administered, the newspaper said.

The authors of the article include researchers from the Institute of Microbiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is jointly developing the vaccine with Zhifei’s unit, and other Chinese institutions.