Moroccan study: Sinopharm exceeds 70% efficacy, 9 months after vaccination

A Moroccan study found that the Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, was “highly effective” at preventing severe forms of COVID-19 infections and aggravated symptoms in the first three months after the second dose.

The study was conducted on 25,768 individuals, showing that the Sinopharm vaccine significantly reduces the risk of hospitalization, and contributes to the prevention of serious COVID-19 complications, providing a 73% efficacy in the first 9 months after vaccination.

The study “aims to estimate the effectiveness of Sinopharm’s inactivated vaccine, delivered and deployed in Morocco, in reducing the risk of hospitalization following severe SARS-CoV-2 infection in the first 9 months after vaccination.” The results are based on surveillance data collected at the national level.

The researchers reported that vaccine protection against the infection decreases beyond 4 months after the first two doses, especially in people over 60 years old.

This was explained by the decline in vaccine-induced immunity over time, or immune escape induced by variants or a combination of these two factors.

The report of the study found that “COVID-19-related hospitalizations peak in the first month, and remain high for three months after the second dose, ranging from 87% to 90%.

However, they decrease slightly after the fourth-month post-vaccination (75%) and stabilize around 60% beyond the fifth month after being administered the second vaccine dose.

The study’s results also showed that the effectiveness of the vaccine differs by age.

Among those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and are at risk of developing complications, such as people over the age of 60, the vaccine efficacy is at 80% during the first month after the second dose, while it is 85% and 78% respectively during the second and third months.

It is also 53% during the fifth month and sets at 66% during the following months.

People under the age of 60 benefit from an estimated efficacy of 88% during the first month, 90% during the second and third months, 84% during the fourth, 72% during the fifth, and 70% after the sixth.

The Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is the most used in Morocco, as the kingdom prepares to launch domestic manufacturing in Benslimane, near the capital Rabat.