Article Text
Abstract
Introduction The first case of novel SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) in Pakistan was detected on 26 February 2020. Pharmacological and non-pharmacological strategies have been tried to lessen the mortality and morbidity burden. Various vaccines have been approved. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan gave emergency approval for Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV) COVID-19 vaccine in December 2021. The phase 3 trial of BBIBP-CorV included only 612 participants aged 60 years and above. The primary aim of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of BBIBPP-CorV (Sinopharm) vaccine within the Pakistani adult population aged 60 or above. The study was carried out in the Faisalabad district of Pakistan.
Methods A test negative case–control study design was used to assess safety and efficacy of BBIBP-CorV in individuals aged 60 and above against symptomatic infection, hospitalisations and mortality due to SARS-CoV-2 among vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals. ORs were calculated using logistic regression model at 95% CI. ORs were used to calculate the vaccine efficacy (VE) by using the following formula.
VE= (1-OR) ×100.
Results 3426 individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 were PCR tested between 5 May 2021 and 31 July 2021. The results showed that Sinopharm vaccine 14 days after the second dose was efficient in reducing the risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection, hospitalisations and mortality by 94.3%, 60.5% and 98.6%, respectively, among vaccinated individuals with a significant p value of 0.001.
Conclusion Our study showed that BBIBP-CorV vaccine is highly effective in preventing infection, hospitalisations and mortality due to COVID-19.
- Immunology
- COVID-19
- Health & safety
- Public health
Data availability statement
All data relevant to the study are included in the article
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Data availability statement
All data relevant to the study are included in the article
Footnotes
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Contributors IN and SAM contributed equally as combined first author. HM was involved in writing, editing, proof reading and was the supervising consultant for the study.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
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