Coronavirus: oral CanSino dose gives a bigger antibody boost than third Sinovac jab, study finds
- Aerosol version of CanSino adenovirus vaccine produced up to 24 times the antibodies against Delta than the control group, researchers find
- The original vaccine was approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization on Thursday
The study, published in the medical journal The Lancet on Friday, showed that an aerosol version of CanSino’s adenovirus-based vaccine, when given as a booster to adults who had received two inactivated vaccines, produced 18.1 to 24 times higher concentration levels of antibodies against the Delta variant than the control group who received a Sinovac vaccine booster.
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Researchers, including Professor Zhu Fengcai, deputy director of Jiangsu Provincial Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, and vaccine developer Chen Wei, a professor at the Beijing Institute of Biotechnology at the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, divided the participants into three groups of 140 people to test the safety and immunogenicity of the inhaled version of its adenovirus-based vaccine.
The vaccine, which is inhaled through the mouth, is an aerosol version of the original vaccine, which is one dose and injected into the muscle.
In September, about five months after they completed the primary immunisation course of either Sinopharm or Sinovac inactivated vaccines, one group of participants received a one-fifth dose of the inhaled version of the original vaccine. Another group received two-fifths of a dose and the third group – a control group – was given an inactivated Sinovac vaccine.
The researchers found the booster dose was safe, with five people in the CanSino vaccine groups experiencing fever, headache or fatigue. The most common adverse event in the Sinovac group was pain at the injection site.