The UAE has officially registered the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine for use, The National News reports, after results from Phase 3 trials suggested that it has an overall 86 percent efficacy rate against coronavirus.

On Wednesday, the UAE’s Ministry of Health and Prevention announced that it had approved a request from the Chinese pharmaceutical company for its Covid-19 vaccine, constituting “a major step towards combating the global pandemic.”

An analysis conducted by the Department of Health in Abu Dhabi apparently found that the Chinese vaccine has a 99 per cent “seroconversion rate,” which relates to how antibodies are built up, and that it is completely (100 per cent) effective in “preventing moderate and severe cases of the disease.”

“Furthermore, the analysis shows no serious safety concerns,” the report added.

This particular Chinese-made vaccine, developed by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products, was trialed in the UAE during the summer. 31,000 people participated in the trials; smaller trials took place in Bahrain and Jordan. The UAE granted it emergency-use status in September and began to vaccinate front-line medical and government personnel right away. Several senior government officials were also vaccinated, including Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.

Government authorization notwithstanding, the vaccine is not yet widely available in the UAE; so far, it is only being offered on a voluntary basis in government-run clinics and some private clinics in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking this week, UAE officials said they had already begun a post-authorization safety and efficacy study to confirm the Phase 3 trial results, noting that “these ongoing studies show similar safety and efficacy profiles as the interim analysis.” In fact, Sinopharm has yet to officially publish its Phase 3 findings and the figures published by the UAE are the first indicators of the vaccine's efficacy.

Like many other coronavirus vaccines being developed, the Sinopharm vaccine is delivered in two separate doses, three weeks apart. A few weeks after the second dose, recipients are tested for antibodies to verify that the vaccine has produced the desired results.