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A division of the Chinese state pharmaceutical group Sinopharm is reportedly offering Covid-19 experimental vaccines to Chinese students traveling abroad.
China National Biotec Group Co, part of Sinopharm that has two vaccines in development, was offering them free to Chinese students this week, the Wall Street Journal reported. A company website said 481,613 people had taken the vaccine, while an additional 93,653 had requested to be inoculated as of Monday.
State media reported that Sinopharm was offering its vaccines to students in Beijing and Wuhan, where the virus first appeared in December. Those who planned to travel abroad between November and January 2021 were eligible.
However, on Tuesday the site appeared to have been shut down with a notice that it was “under maintenance”, while conflicting reports sowed confusion. Students in Wuhan told state media that they had been told the program had been suspended.
Initial reports emerged on Tuesday, when Bloomberg reported that Sinopharm was in talks with the Chinese government about a plan to vaccinate students.
On Wednesday, Health Times, part of the state-run People’s Daily, reported that Sinopharm’s offer “was not real,” according to an anonymous company source. CNBG did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
China is among the countries leading the global race for a Covid-19 vaccine, with four treatments in the final phases of clinical trials. Health authorities have said that a vaccine will be available in China from November or December.
Under an emergency vaccine program that began in July, tens of thousands of volunteers have received experimental vaccines, raising questions about the risks of administering unproven treatments to the public.
Under the program, China offers three experimental injections developed by a unit of the state pharmaceutical giant China National Pharmaceutical Group and Sinovac Biotech, which is listed in the United States. A fourth vaccine being developed by CanSino Biologics was approved for use by the Chinese military in June.
Reliance on homegrown vaccines is key to China’s public health diplomacy in the face of accusations by the United States and other countries that reporting delays allowed the virus to spread from China, becoming a pandemic spreading. it has claimed more than 1 million lives.
Last week, China joined Covax, a global vaccine initiative co-led by the World Health Organization, Gavi, Vaccine Alliance, and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations. By joining the coalition, rejected by the United States, China has become the largest economy to participate.
With Reuters
