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A citizen receives the long-awaited COVID-19 vaccine at the Dachong Community Health Center of Nanshan District Medical Group Headquarters, one of the five vaccination centers in Shenzhen, on December 30, 2020. Photo by Chai Hua / China Daily / Asia News Network
BEIJING – China will provide free COVID-19 vaccines to all its citizens, Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health Commission (NHC), said at a news conference on Thursday.
An inactivated COVID-19 vaccine became the first self-developed vaccine to gain conditional marketing approval from the China National Medical Products Administration on Wednesday, according to the press conference.
The vaccine is developed by Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. under the China National Biotec Group, affiliated with Sinopharm.
“All Chinese will receive this vaccine for free,” the NHC official said.
After the market entry of COVID-19 vaccines is approved, especially when production capacity increases, China will comprehensively vaccinate the elderly, people with underlying conditions and the general public in an orderly manner.
“China will vaccinate the eligible population as widely as possible and gradually build an immunological barrier throughout the population to control the epidemic,” Zeng said. He added that 60 or even 70 percent of the vaccination rate is needed to establish universal protection.
“Once Chinese COVID-19 vaccines are developed and put into use, China will fulfill its commitment to make vaccines a global public goods and provide them to the world at a fair and reasonable price,” said Shen Bo, an official. of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. At the press conference.
Shen noted that China has always attached importance to the accessibility and affordability of vaccines in developing countries. China has considered providing vaccines to developing countries in various ways, including donations and free aid.
“China also calls on the international community to work together to promote the fair distribution of vaccines in the world and strive to make vaccines public goods that people in all countries can use and pay for,” Shen said.
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