The first trial of Sinopharm’s BBIBP-CorV vaccine in an African population will be conducted in Mozambique as part of ongoing efforts to expand the reach of COVID-19 inoculations on the continent.

The Expanding Access and Delivery of COVID-19 Vaccines in Africa (ECOVA) consortium will conduct clinical trials in Beira and Maputo. Participants will be observed for two years to gather long-term data on use of the vaccine, but interim results are expected later this year.

The study will ‘evaluate the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines against new variants of concern, particularly the Beta and Delta variants, which now account for the majority of infections in our region’, according to Iles Jani, director-general of the National Institute of Health in Mozambique, a member of the consortium, which is led by the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).

In addition, the programme will produce data on mix-and-match two-dose strategies using BBIBP-CorV and AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, and the use of COVID-19 vaccines among people who are HIV positive.

The joint initiative between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and IVI will see the former provide funding of up to US$12.7 million to ECOVA to conduct the trials. CEPI says that no such trials of the BBIBP-CorV vaccine have been conducted on African populations before.

According to a recent agreement, up to 170 million BBIBP-CorV doses will be distributed through the COVAX facility, although the vaccine is already being used in more than 50 countries across the globe.

27 July 2021
Image: Gallo/Getty Images