• Omicron-specific Chinese vaccine candidates cleared for clinical trial

    Health
    Omicron-specific Chinese vaccine candidates cleared for clinical trial

    Digital Desk: Two of the candidates, which
    contain inactivated or "killed" Omicron viruses and are similar to
    Sinopharm's two vaccines in use in China, will be tested on adults who have
    already received two or three vaccine doses, CNBG said in a statement.

    The Sinopharm subsidiary said on
    Saturday that two
    Covid-19 vaccine candidates developed by units of China
    National Biotec Group
    (CNBG) to target the Omicron variant were approved for
    clinical trials as boosters in Hong Kong.



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    mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin">Researchers
    worldwide are racing to study newer injections against Omicron because
    antibodies elicited by vaccines based on older strains show weaker activity
    against this highly transmissible variant.



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    mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin">The two
    candidates, both containing inactivated or "killed" Omicron virus and
    similar to the two Sinopharm vaccines in use in China, will be tested in adults
    who have already received two or three vaccine doses, CNBG said in a statement.



    mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin">It did not
    specify which vaccine products the trial participants would have received
    before taking the experimental booster, or how many subjects would be
    recruited.



    According to a
    recent Chinese study, a fourth dose of Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV vaccine did not
    significantly increase antibody levels against Omicron when administered six
    months after a third booster dose.



    Researchers said that although the fourth dose
    restored antibody levels to about that of the third dose, new vaccines would be
    a better alternative to future boosters.

    Also Read: India's first Omicron patient left Dubai after testing positive



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