<p>China's drug regulator has approved the country's first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant raises concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs.</p>.<p>The trial will test the efficacy of combining an "inactivated" vaccine made by China's Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio, a statement issued on Tuesday said.</p>.<p>The statement was put out by Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou, Inovio's trial partner in China.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/how-will-covid-19-vaccines-work-on-compromised-immune-systems-here-s-what-we-know-1018531.html" target="_blank">How will Covid-19 vaccines work on compromised immune systems? Here’s what we know</a></strong></p>.<p>Preclinical work has found that "two different vaccine applications... produce an even stronger and more balanced immune response", Advaccine chairman Wang Bin said in the statement.</p>.<p>There are several types of Covid vaccines, including those using an inactivated or weakened virus to generate an immune response, and more cutting-edge RNA- or DNA-based jabs that use engineered versions of the coronavirus' genetic code to create a protein that safely prompts an immune response.</p>.<p>Five out of the seven vaccines approved in China are two-shot inactivated vaccines.</p>.<p>Their published efficacy lags RNA jabs by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which have pre-Delta success rates above 90 percent.</p>.<p>The World Health Organization has said there is still not enough data to say whether using two different vaccines together is safe or can boost immunity.</p>.<p>Inovio has not published any efficacy data from its global clinical trials. It is the first DNA-based vaccine to be trialled in China.</p>.<p>China is battling its worst coronavirus outbreak in months, with officials saying many of those infected had already been vaccinated.</p>.<p>This has added to calls for China's two biggest vaccine producers -- state-run Sinopharm and privately owned Sinovac -- to provide data proving their jabs work against the Delta variant.</p>.<p>Beijing is yet to approve any foreign vaccines for domestic use.</p>
<p>China's drug regulator has approved the country's first mixed-vaccine trial, a company involved in the study said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant raises concern about the efficacy of domestically produced jabs.</p>.<p>The trial will test the efficacy of combining an "inactivated" vaccine made by China's Sinovac with a DNA-based one developed by US pharmaceutical company Inovio, a statement issued on Tuesday said.</p>.<p>The statement was put out by Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals Suzhou, Inovio's trial partner in China.</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/science-and-environment/how-will-covid-19-vaccines-work-on-compromised-immune-systems-here-s-what-we-know-1018531.html" target="_blank">How will Covid-19 vaccines work on compromised immune systems? Here’s what we know</a></strong></p>.<p>Preclinical work has found that "two different vaccine applications... produce an even stronger and more balanced immune response", Advaccine chairman Wang Bin said in the statement.</p>.<p>There are several types of Covid vaccines, including those using an inactivated or weakened virus to generate an immune response, and more cutting-edge RNA- or DNA-based jabs that use engineered versions of the coronavirus' genetic code to create a protein that safely prompts an immune response.</p>.<p>Five out of the seven vaccines approved in China are two-shot inactivated vaccines.</p>.<p>Their published efficacy lags RNA jabs by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which have pre-Delta success rates above 90 percent.</p>.<p>The World Health Organization has said there is still not enough data to say whether using two different vaccines together is safe or can boost immunity.</p>.<p>Inovio has not published any efficacy data from its global clinical trials. It is the first DNA-based vaccine to be trialled in China.</p>.<p>China is battling its worst coronavirus outbreak in months, with officials saying many of those infected had already been vaccinated.</p>.<p>This has added to calls for China's two biggest vaccine producers -- state-run Sinopharm and privately owned Sinovac -- to provide data proving their jabs work against the Delta variant.</p>.<p>Beijing is yet to approve any foreign vaccines for domestic use.</p>