China has been administering experimental coronavirus vaccines to hundreds of thousands of people since July under an emergency use program approved by the Chinese government, before their safety and efficacy have been fully proven by clinical trials.
Zheng Zhongwei, an official with China’s National Health Commission, said on Friday that China’s cabinet, the State Council, approved a test plan for the emergency use of Covid-19 vaccines in late June.
“After approval, we communicated and informed the relevant representatives of the WHO China office and obtained the understanding and support of the WHO,” he told a news conference.
CNN has reached out to the WHO representative office in Beijing for comment.
Workers at high risk of exposure to the virus, including front-line medical personnel, epidemic prevention personnel, medical personnel at fever clinics, and customs and border personnel, were eligible to receive the vaccine, it said in the interview.
The vaccines, which have not completed Phase 3 trials, were developed by the state-owned China National Biotec Group Corporation, known as Sinopharm.
In a statement posted on Sinopharm’s website this month, the company said its two candidate vaccines had been administered “hundreds of thousands of times” under the government-approved emergency use program.
The vaccines were used by medical professionals, diplomats deployed to high-risk countries and employees of state-owned companies working abroad under the China Belt and Road Initiative, according to the company’s general counsel, Zhou Song.
“There was not a single case that demonstrated significant negative effects, nor was anyone infected,” Zhou said in the statement.
Phase 3 trials are underway for Sinopharm vaccines in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Peru, Morocco, and Argentina.
Last week, the UAE approved the emergency use of a Sinopharm vaccine for frontline workers, according to the country’s Health Ministry.
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