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Hundreds of thousands of people have received two Chinese COVID-19 vaccine candidates as part of an emergency program, without a single case of infection or adverse effects, said a senior official at a state-owned vaccine developer.
The two vaccines, developed by China National Biotec Group (CNBG), are expected to enter the market as early as this December, and two injections will cost less than 1,000 yuan (about $ 146), said Zhou Song, general legal counsel for the CNBG. company. advice.
Phase three safety and efficacy trials, usually the last step before regulatory approval, are still undergoing in more than 10 other countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Peru, Morocco, Argentina and Jordan, since the epidemic has broken out. basically under control in China.
The two candidate vaccines, along with another developed by Beijing-based Sinovac, have been approved for civilian use in emergencies after reliable results in phase one and phase two trials.
The emergency program began in late July and allowed “high-risk” groups to be vaccinated, such as medical workers, diplomats and people traveling to foreign countries still fighting the pandemic.
“Tens of thousands of vaccinated people have traveled to countries and regions at high risk for COVID-19. No one has been infected so far, and this demonstrated the effectiveness of the vaccines,” Zhou said.
How long will immunity last?
Zhou said the vaccines could protect a person against the new coronavirus for one to three years, based on the results of animal experiments, phase one and phase two trials, and similar vaccines using similar technology.
“We continue to monitor the first 180 volunteers, who received the vaccines more than five months ago, and we find that antibody levels to coronavirus are still stabilizing at the peak, and there are no signs of decreasing,” he said.
The coronavirus has mutated, will vaccines continue to work?
Vaccines should be able to work against all strains of the new coronavirus, according to Zhou.
“In fact, there are several subtypes of the virus that are mutating, but their main genetic sequence and protein structure have not fundamentally changed. Inactivated vaccines will have no problem dealing with these mutated viruses in the next few years and can cover them.” He explained.
CNBG production plan
Zhang Yuntao, vice president of CNBG, told the media earlier this week that the company has built two secure facilities in Beijing and Wuhan to produce the vaccines, and the annual production capacity is 300 million doses.
He added that the plant would be expanded in three to six months and the annual production capacity will reach 1.3 billion doses by that time.
So far, the company has received an expected 500 million orders from other countries for the vaccines, he said.
(Cover Image: A coronavirus vaccine candidate from China National Biotechnology Group presented at the 2020 China International Services Trade Fair in Beijing on September 6, 2020. / VCG）
