China’s Sinovac expects to have a new version of its Coronavac omicron vaccine in three months

The Chinese company Sinovac plans to have a new version of its vaccine against COVID-19 (Coronavac) adapted to the omicron variant ready in three months, which has put the world on alert due to its high number of mutations.

This was announced by the vice president of Sinovac, Yaling Hu, at a symposium organized by the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo, an entity with which it allied to produce Coronavac in Brazilian territory.

“The development of the vaccine against the omicron strain will be completed in three months“, With a production capacity of between”1 billion and 1.5 billion doses per year”, Indicated Yaling Hu, which is also part of the specialist group of the World Health Organization (WHO).

That process to adapt the drug to the new variant, initially detected in South Africa last November and about which little is known, has already begun and includes a plan to evaluate its efficacy through laboratory experiments and then in humans of different ages. , according to the executive.

“In the first evaluation we want to isolate the virus and do a neutralizing antibody test including different immunization schedules”, He explained in his lecture, which he delivered in Chinese, translated into English and was broadcast in Portuguese by the official channels of Butantan.

According to data from Butantan, one of the most prestigious medical research institutions in Brazil, Coronavac “it has been used in 45 countries”Since the beginning of the pandemic, which has already caused more than 5.2 million deaths in the world.

With more than 7,900 million doses of the different immunizers applied worldwide, Coronavac represents “25% of world production“, When answering by”2 billionOf punctures.

The Chinese formula was the most used at the start of the vaccination campaign in Brazil, which began on January 17, and its progress has allowed a drastic decrease in both the number of infections and deaths in the South American country.

Even so, Brazil It is one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, along with the United States and India, accounting to date for 22.1 million cases and close to 616,000 deaths linked to the disease.

In addition, six cases of the omicron variant have been registered to date: three in Sao Paulo, which were the first in Latin America; two in the Federal District of Brasilia and another in Rio Grande do Sul, a border state with Uruguay and Argentina.