Sinopharm Photo: VCG

Sinopharm experts said sequential inoculation with the company's inactivated and protein-based COVID-19 vaccines can enhance immune response level and introduce neutralizing antibodies of Omicron, after the company's second-generation jab was approved for emergency use in United Arab Emirates (UAE), becoming the world's first of this kind to obtain such approval.

Li Qiming, Director of the National Vaccine & Serum Institute under Sinopharm, told the Global Times on Wednesday that Sinopharm's recombinant protein-based vaccine, including both first and second generation versions, have been administered to nearly 4,000 people in the UAE.

"Data from a primary study show that the vaccine is good for safety and tolerance," Li said.

Li noted that the data also demonstrate that sequential vaccination of inactivated and recombinant protein vaccine can trigger high levels of antibodies against the original SAR-CoV-2 variant as well as comparatively higher antibodies against the Omicron variant. 

Sinopharm announced on Tuesday that its second-generation recombinant protein-based vaccine has been approved in the UAE and will be provided to the public as booster shots to those that already had two shots of Sinopharm's inactivated vaccine. 

According to Reuters, the UAE will start to provide the public with booster doses starting January, 2022.

According to Li, Sinopharm's first-generation recombinant protein-based vaccine is derived from the original virus of SAR-CoV-2. Its target antigen is a receptor-binding domain (RBD) that is similar to the virus's natural structure. 

Development on the second-generation shot started in July and it is a broad-spectrum vaccine to account for the novel coronavirus' high variability, Li said, adding that Sinopharm is also submitting data to the Chinese medical products administration to serve as reference and data support for the domestic vaccination strategy.

A total of 1.274 billion people have completed a full course of vaccination against COVID-19, which means 85.64 percent of the population in China are fully vaccinated, He Qinghua, an official from the NHC, said at a press conference on Wednesday.