China's COVID-19 Vaccine Provides Immunity 2 Weeks After First Doze - Sinopharm Head

China's COVID-19 Vaccine Provides Immunity 2 Weeks After First Doze - Sinopharm Head

BEIJING (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2020) People receiving China's COVID-19 vaccine develop immunity to the virus within two weeks after the first injection, Liu Jingzhen, the head of China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), said.

Sinopharm is currently conducting the third stage of international clinical trials of the vaccine in the UAE. The drug is expected to be available in the market in late December 2020.

"One injection gives you a 97-percent guarantee of protection, antibodies are being developed slowly. In a normal situation, the necessary level of antibodies to fight against COVID-19 will be developed within half a month. If you take two injections, 100-percent protection is guaranteed," Liu said as quoted by Zhongguo xinwen wang.

According to the official, the break between the first and second injection is 28 days, but in special cases the two injections can be given at once.

The Sinopharm head assured that the vaccine will not be very expensive.

"We expect that one injection will cost several hundred yuan. If there are two injections, then the price will be within 1000 Yuan ($144)," Liu said.

The company predicts that the Beijing National Institute of Biological Sciences will be able to produce 120 million doses of the vaccine per year and the Wuhan Institute will make up to 100 million doses per year. At the same time, the Sinopharm head believes that the entire population of China, which exceeds 1.4 billion people, will not need mass vaccination. The vaccine is only needed in big cities with high density of population.