Asian Tech Press (Sep 27) -- A large real world study in Malaysia shows that China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine is also highly effective against serious illness, although vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca have shown better protection efficiency, Reuters reported last Friday.

The report said that the study, conducted by the Malaysian government, found that only 0.011% of the approximately 7.2 million recipients of the Sinovac vaccine required treatment in intensive care units (ICUs) for COVID-19 infections, Malaysian health officials told reporters Sept. 23.

In comparison, 0.002% of approximately 6.5 million recipients of the Pfizer shot required ICU treatment for COVID-19 infections, while 0.001% of 744,958 recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine required similar treatment.

The study involved about 14.5 million fully vaccinated individuals and lasted for more than five months from April 1.

The vaccine, developed by the Chinese biopharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech Ltd (SVA:NASDAQ GS), has been widely used in several countries, including China, Indonesia, Thailand and Brazil. And the company said earlier this month that it has supplied 1.8 billion doses of the vaccine at home and abroad.