Chinese health officials have approved a state-owned synopharm covid vaccine for the general consumption of the population, the government has announced.
The state task force announced at a press conference in Beijing that the vaccine had exceeded World Health Organization standards and would help establish effective immunity in China.
Health officials said weaker groups would be given priority over the general population. Key groups are already vaccinating under emergency approvals, including about one million synoform vaccinators.
Zheng Yisin, deputy head of the National Health Commission, said it aims for 0-70% vaccination coverage, which was expected to establish strong immunity. “Since the Chinese vaccine has proven to be safe and effective, we want to encourage our people to participate on a voluntary and informed basis and with consent,” he said.
Officials did not give specific dates but said the rollout would begin “soon” at a “significant reduction” price.
Zheng Zhongwei said the vaccine is a public one and the product price is “the only basis for prices”.
Sinofarm is a state-owned pharmaceutical company with two vaccine candidates in five of China’s experimental solutions in international final phase tests. Public statements on synopharm vaccines do not seem to clarify which of the two candidates is being discussed.
The approval was announced by Cinopharm on Wednesday that its vaccine has been found to be 79% effective in Phase 3 testing. This was followed by tests conducted in the UAE in early December in a%.% Effectiveness report. Officials say the vaccine has not been tested in China because the virus is not enough.
Chinese vaccine developers have not released trial data. Synoform data will be published “later” in Chinese and foreign medical journals, a health official said on Thursday.
At the annual meeting of health workers on December 22, Zhang Wenhong, head of infectious diseases at Funda University’s Husha Hospital, said Chinese people have concerns about the vaccine being made by locals, and party leaders should first vaccinate people to reassure them. The recording of his comments quickly spread on Chinese social media before being censored.
Sinofarm and rival developer Sinovak have developed their vaccine by using a more traditional method of using inactivated viruses to stimulate the immune response. They are more difficult to produce faster than other types and have the potential to respond to unbalanced immunity, but have shown historic success.
Mao Junfeng, head of consumer products at China’s Ministry of Industry, said vaccine manufacturers have increased production capacity. “We believe that China’s vaccine production will meet the demand for large-scale vaccination, and the ministry will look forward to implementing the plans.” [of the central government] … Assists and helps enterprises increase production capacity and ensures that simple production and supply chain will provide effective and accessible vaccines to the people. ”
In September, the UAE was the first country outside China to allow emergency use of the synoform vaccine. It has since been made available in Bahrain and shipped to Egypt, while Morocco plans to rely on it to vaccinate its 0% of the adult population. Other countries have signed up to receive the Synovac vaccine, ahead of China’s other locally manufactured ones. In October, China announced that it would join Covax, an international initiative aimed at ensuring equal global access to vaccines.
