Human trials of a Chinese coronavirus vaccine in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have yielded an 86 percent efficacy rate, according to UAE’s national health authorities.

The Middle Eastern country, which is home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, started the trials of Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm’s vaccine in September. The phase three trials included more than 30,000 volunteers across 125 different nationalities—all aged between eighteen and sixty who took two doses of the vaccine over twenty-eight days.

“The analysis shows no serious safety concerns,” the UAE’s Health and Prevention Ministry said in a statement published by the state-run WAM news agency.

Developed by the China National Biotec Group Co., the vaccine has already been administered to hundreds of thousands of people under emergency authorization in China.

It wasn’t clear if the announced results included only those taking part in the testing in the UAE or if they also combined results from China and elsewhere. It also did not note whether any participants experienced side effects from the vaccine. 

“The registration of this vaccine is a decision in response to the application from Sinopharm CNBG. The announcement is a significant vote of confidence by the UAE’s health authorities in the safety and efficacy of this vaccine,” the health ministry added.  

Unlike leading Western competitors, Sinopharm’s shot relies on a long-tested technology that uses a killed virus to deliver the vaccine. The shots developed by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, for example, tap into newer, less-proven technology that targets the virus’ spike protein using RNA.  

UAE’s announcement has brought yet another player into the global race for a viable vaccine to end the ten-month-long pandemic.  

Vaccine candidates from Novavax, AstraZeneca, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson could be approved within the coming months in addition to the Pfizer vaccine, which began its rollout Tuesday in the United Kingdom.  

Last week, the United Kingdom became the first country to give the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine emergency use approval. The Pfizer vaccine could receive a similar approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as early as this week.  

The FDA has already said that data from Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine trials was consistent with recommendations put forth by the agency for an emergency use authorization, adding that the vaccine was highly effective and did not have any safety concerns.  

On Saturday, Russia began vaccinating thousands of doctors, teachers, and others at dozens of centers in Moscow with its controversial Sputnik V vaccine. The country authorized use of the shot last summer after it was tested on only a few dozen people.  

Ethen Kim Lieser is a Minneapolis-based Science and Tech Editor who has held posts at Google, The Korea Herald, Lincoln Journal Star, AsianWeek, and Arirang TV. Follow or contact him on LinkedIn.  

Image: Reuters