A total of about 60,000 volunteers of 125 different nationalities from more than 10 countires have been injected Chinese COVID-19 vaccines as part of phase-3 clinical trials, with no severe side-effects reported, Tian Baoguo, deputy director of the Ministry of Science and Technology, told a press conference in Beijing on Tuesday. The official further stated that only people with high exposure to COVID-19 such as medics, workers for anti-epidemic prevention and control work, border control staff etc have received vaccines for emergency use at the current stage, and the emergency use strictly follows the laws in China as well as WHO rules, and has been reported to the WHO for ratification.
According to Tian, the most common adverse reactions in phase-3 clinical trials are pain and swelling at the injection site, followed by fever, both of which are mild. China now has 13 vaccine candidates entering clinical trials, including four in phase-III trials. Two inactivated vaccines developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), which is affiliated to Sinopharm, and the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, have started phase-3 clinical trials in 10 countries, with more than 50,000 volunteers taking part, said Liu Jingzhen, chairman of Sinopharm. Sinovac Biotech, another vaccine developer, said that the company’s partners in Brazil, Indonesia and Turkey have established monitoring systems for adverse reactions in accordance with internationally accepted standards. So far, no severe ill reactions related to COVID-19 vaccines have been reported.
The international cooperation is part of efforts to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all as part of COVAX, the global initiative against “vaccine nationalism.” China together with other 183 countries have now joined COVAX, the COVID-19 global vaccine alliance designed to speed development, promote the equitable distribution of vaccines globally, and to ensure that vaccines are available to developing countries. The United States is not part of the COVAX program, calling it “too constraining”. Earlier this year, the Trump administration announced the US withdrawal for WHO.
Chinese authorities say the country will fulfill its commitments to make any vaccine a global public good. The aim is to curb the virus and its threat to the health and safety of people of all countries. “Although we’re leading the world in vaccine development and have sufficient production capacity, we have decided to join COVAX,” an official from Chinese Foreign Ministry explained that Beijing also wants to encourage other capable countries to join the initiative through its participation.
China is expected to produce up to 610 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this year, Zheng Zhongwei, head of China’s coronavirus vaccine development task force said at the press conference, adding that the capacity will be further expanded to over 1 billion shots in 2021 to ensure sufficient and safe supply, and the price of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines “will certainly be within a scope that the public can accept.”
During Chinese senior official Yang Jiechi’s recent meetings with Sri Lankan President and Prime Minister, both sides agreed to have further cooperation including vaccine development and distribution to jointly fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
