Saudi Arabia starts third phase of Chinese COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

Saudi Arabia, besides its own, will start the third phase of a clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine in cooperation with China’s vaccine developing company Can Sino.

The trial will target 5,000 healthy volunteers in Saudi Arabia over the age of 18 years old, and the ministry was currently working on preparing to launch operations in three main cities of Riyadh, Dammam, and Mecca, according to a news report published on August 9, which quoted the Kingdom’s Ministry of Health. 

The first and second phases of the clinical trial of the Ad5-nCOV potential vaccine were conducted in China. 

The first phase conducted between March 16 to 27 and it included 108 volunteers while the second phase was carried on between April 11 to 16, having involved 603 volunteers. 

Can Sino’s vaccine uses a modified common cold virus to carry genetic material from the coronavirus into the human body. It elicits antibody and T-cell immune responses and did not prompt any serious side effects. 

Meanwhile, the Kingdom’s health authorities and organizations have been conducting their own coronavirus clinical trials. Last month, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) had invited Saudi hospitals to participate in several COVID-19 clinical trials approved by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA). 

The first study ‘Avi Mild 19’ involved the drug favipiravir which was manufactured in Japan and used in cases of mild illness, according to SPA. The second was labelled ‘FACT’ involving a combination of favipiravir and the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine while the third is based on convalescent plasma and the fourth is a comparative study to assess the efficacy of each of the different coronavirus treatment protocols. 

Saudi Arabia has also been training dogs to sniff out COVID-19 infected individuals