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BEIJING: An experimental $ 60 double-dose COVID-19 vaccine is being made available to some residents in an eastern Chinese city, health officials said, the first details of a mass deployment of a yet untested vaccine.
Jiaxing city officials said Thursday that residents between the ages of 18 and 59 with “urgent needs” can seek consultations at clinics to obtain a Sinovac Biotech vaccine that authorities have been administering to groups such as medical workers.
The statement from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Jiaxing, which is located in northern China’s Zhejiang Province, did not specify what constituted “urgent needs.”
Authorities did not say how many people in the city received the vaccine, which comes in two doses, administered up to 28 days apart and at a total cost of 400 yuan (US $ 59).
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China has already given hundreds of thousands of essential workers in ports, hospitals and other high-risk areas across the country an experimental vaccine, according to officials.
But even as 11 Chinese vaccines have entered clinical trials, with four in advanced phase three trials, none have been approved for mass market distribution.
China is desperate to win the global race for a vaccine against a virus that emerged in the central city of Wuhan, as it seeks to complete its narrative of recovery from public health and economic calamity.
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China approved some candidates for emergency use, and officials said they have seen no serious adverse reactions.
Beijing has also made bold predictions of a broader deployment before the end of the year, as it battles a storm of international criticism over its early handling of the outbreak.
Health officials said at a press conference last month that the country hopes to be able to produce 610 million doses of vaccines annually by the end of the year, emphasizing that it would be affordable.
Chinese President Xi Jinping also previously declared that Chinese vaccines would become a “global public good.”
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China has joined a bid led by the World Health Organization to ensure that future COVID-19 vaccines are distributed to developing countries, the largest economy to join the attempt to control the pandemic.
Beijing has not given details on how much money it would commit to the deal, which has a fundraising goal of US $ 2 billion and aims to provide a future vaccine to 92 low- and middle-income countries.
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