The vaccine made by Sinovac Biotech, one of the most widely used in the world, does not provide sufficient antibodies to neutralize the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, Hong Kong researchers said in initial lab findings that could have sweeping consequences for the millions of people relying on the Chinese shot to protect them against COVID-19.
Among a group of 25 people fully vaccinated with Sinovac’s shot, which is called Coronavac, none showed sufficient antibodies in their blood serum to neutralize the Omicron variant, said a statement from a team of researchers at the University of Hong Kong released late on Tuesday night.
In a separate group of 25 people fully vaccinated with the messenger RNA shot developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, five had neutralizing ability against the new variant, the scientists said.
Photo: AFP
That is in line with findings released last week by the companies, who said a third shot would be sufficient to protect against Omicron.
Led by Yuen Kwok-yung (袁國勇), a professor of infectious diseases at the university, the study of 50 people has been accepted for publication in the medical journal Clinical Infectious Diseases and is available online as a pre-print.
While much is still unknown about how Sinovac’s shot reacts to Omicron — including how T-cells, the immune system’s weapon against virus-infected cells, will respond — the findings are a blow to those who have received the 2.3 billion doses of Coronavac shipped out, mostly in China and the developing world.
If Sinovac is found in more conclusive studies to be ineffective against Omicron, China, which has managed to insulate the vast majority of its people from COVID-19 with closed borders and strict containment measures, faces the biggest threat from the new variant, experts said.
The government has given out 2.6 billion homegrown shots — many of them Coronavac — to its population of 1.4 billion people.
Among other countries using Coronavac, previous infection waves would have conferred some natural immunity that would help ensure “no major impact” from Omicron, said Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the university.
However, the populations in China and Hong Kong have experienced no large-scale infection before, leaving them vulnerable.
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