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BEIJING (BLOOMBERG) – China said administering coronavirus vaccines that are still being tested on hundreds of thousands of people outside of clinical trials is justified given the risk of Covid-19 returning across its borders and the lack of significant side effects so far from injections. .
In July, the country authorized the emergency use of three vaccines developed by local companies China National Biotec Group Co. and Sinovac Biotech Ltd. for front-line workers, including medical personnel treating patients with viruses, and for those border officials.
But it has since expanded to include employees of state-owned companies, and the government is also considering offering experimental hits to students heading abroad to study.
Sinovac, whose CoronaVac jab began end-stage clinical trials three months ago, is allowing the public in at least two Chinese cities to sign up to receive the vaccines as well.
The expansion has been criticized by experts, with some saying it was dangerous and a misuse of the program.
Despite nearly eliminating the virus, China continues to experience “enormous pressure” from imported cases, said Zheng Zhongwei, director overseeing the development of the coronavirus vaccine at the National Health Commission, at a briefing in Beijing on Tuesday (October 20).
Those who participate in the emergency use program are tracked for any adverse reactions to the injections and so far no serious responses have been reported beyond low-grade fevers and rashes, he said.
China’s emergency use parameters were approved after rigorous deliberation among vaccine and ethics experts, and also obtained endorsement from the World Health Organization, Zheng said.
Officials at the briefing did not provide details on how people receiving vaccines under the emergency use program are being monitored.
ACCELERATED PROCESSES
Chinese vaccine developers have been at the forefront of the global race to create effective immunization against the virus. The momentum has become vitally important as countries seek to move beyond Covid-19 and permanently reopen their economies.
Years of vaccine development processes have been squeezed into months by global players, encouraged by politicians who want a quick solution to the pandemic that has sickened more than 40 million.
But the rush has raised security concerns. Western leaders like Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc have temporarily halted their clinical trials in recent months after unexplained illnesses in participants.
Representatives from both Sinovac and China National Biotec’s parent company Sinopharm said at the briefing that there were no reports of participants in their ongoing phase III vaccine trials experiencing serious adverse reactions. The companies have enrolled more than 50,000 people around the world in the tests.
While new infections in China have stayed below 100 a day since mid-August, the country where the virus first emerged continues to experience small outbreaks, with the most recent in the eastern port city of Qingdao.
It has managed to eliminate these groups, including an outbreak in its capital Beijing in June, through massive testing campaigns that screen millions of citizens for the virus within days. In general, masks and temperature controls are still required in public places and all travelers entering from abroad must remain in quarantine for 14 days.
Sinopharm will be able to produce 1 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines starting next year, President Liu Jingzhen said at Tuesday’s briefing.
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