The risks of a failed Chinese vaccine

Huge stock has been placed in the development of a vaccine for Covid-19, with the Prime Minister suggesting this week that the disease will not be properly defeated without one. The government has held out on the idea of a vaccine being available as early as September.

So how are things coming along in the real world? Ten days ago the first results from a human trial of a Covid-19 vaccine – developed by Chinese company CanSino Biologics were published in the Lancet. The researchers, from the Jiangsu Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention in Nanjing, reported an immunological response in most of the 108 people given the vaccine. But they were not able to assess how effective it would be in preventing infection, as the level of antibodies required to prevent infection is not known. They also reported adverse reactions in 81 per cent of those taking part – mostly mild cases of muscle pain and fever – rising with the size of the dose received.