Saudi Arabia and Bahrain join countries conducting trials of possible Covid-19 vaccines
Saudi Arabia plans to conduct a clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s CanSino Biologics involving at least 5,000 volunteers, the health ministry said.
The trial will be conducted in Riyadh, Makkah and Dammam, with a group of participants receiving a low dose of vaccine and the other a placebo, the ministry said.
The vaccine produced an immune response in earlier trials in China.
Saudi Arabia, with a population of 34 million, has recorded more than 289,000 coronavirus cases, placing it among the 15 countries with the most cases. New cases dipped from a peak of nearly 5,000 per day in June to 1,257 yesterday.
Meanwhile, Bahrain will begin Phase 3 trials of another China-developed vaccine that is already undergoing testing in the UAE.
The clinical trials of the inactivated Covid-19 vaccine from Sinopharm will be conducted by G42 Healthcare, an artificial intelligence company in Abu Dhabi, Bahrain’s assistant undersecretary for public health Mariam Al Hajri said yesterday.
Dr Al Hajri said the trial would involve an estimated 6,000 volunteers from across Bahrain and would be carried out over 12 months.
Citizens and residents above the age of 18 who do not suffer from chronic or underlying conditions will be allowed to take part.
The trial of the vaccine was approved by the National Health Regulatory Authority after the success of its Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials in China, she said, the Bahrain News Agency reported.
The Sinopharm vaccine passed the first and second phases of testing in China without causing any harmful side effects, and generated antibodies in all of the volunteers within two days.
G42 Healthcare chief executive Ashish Koshy said the expansion of the trial to Bahrain received a “hugely enthusiastic response” from the Bahraini health ministry and other public health bodies.
Mr Koshy said the expansion of the trial outside the UAE would help to increase the number of people participating “to enable similar numbers to other international trials under way in nations with much larger populations”.