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BEIJING: China plans to start opening its vaccination program to the public in southwestern Sichuan province early next year, health officials said, even though the vaccines have yet to receive official approval.
At least one million people have already received an injection in China after the vaccine candidates were approved for “emergency use,” but so far they have been limited to priority groups such as state employees and international students.
China has five coronavirus vaccines in the final stages of development, but none have received official approval from authorities and the results of the late-stage trials have yet to be released.
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A provincial health official told local media that vaccines will be provided to the general public in Sichuan after the Lunar New Year holidays in February.
Authorities said on Thursday (December 17) that 118,000 doses of vaccines had reached the province so far, with plans to inoculate all high-risk groups by February 5 before rolling out the program to the rest of the population. .
They did not specify who developed the vaccines.
Sichuan is the first province to outline a schedule of its vaccination plans for the general public.
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The coronavirus, which first emerged in China late last year, has been largely controlled in the country, but there have been a number of national outbreaks.
Sichuan has been hit by a small cluster of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks, with one more virus infection reported on Friday.
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