Chile hails 'game-changer' Sinovac data

China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine is 67% effective in preventing symptomatic infection, data from a huge real-world study in Chile has shown.

It's a potential boost for the jab, which has come under scrutiny over its level of protection against the virus.

The CoronaVac vaccine was 85% effective in preventing hospitalizations and 80% effective in preventing deaths, the Chilean government said in a report on Friday (April 16), calling it a "game changer".

Chile struck a deal with Sinovac to host the drug's clinical trial and buy 60 million doses over three years.

The minister behind that choice said the results showed Chile had made "the right bet".

Chile's stock of CoronaVac is running low, with the supply of an agreed total of 14.2 million to be fully delivered by late May.

The release of the CoronaVac data makes Chile one of a handful of countries, including Britain and Israel, that have used their rapid inoculation campaigns to gather insights into how effective vaccines are outside controlled clinical trials.