China allows mixing of Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccines to boost immunity

Two more local shots added to booster list but still no green light for BioNTech’s mRNA doses
New mix-and-match strategy is expected to reduce severe illness and deaths from the coronavirus

Coronavirus pandemic

Mimi Lau

Published: 9:02pm, 19 Feb 2022

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Chinese regulators have approved the mixing of domestic vaccines as boosters to improve immunity against Covid-19, and added two more Chinese-developed shots to the booster roster.

But there is still no sign that an mRNA vaccine developed by Germany-based BioNTech will get the go-ahead for use in China.

Wu Liangyou, deputy director of the National Health Commission’s disease control bureau, said on Saturday that the State Council had approved mixed inoculation.

Wu also said that Covid-19 vaccines by Anhui Zhifei Longcom and CanSino Biologics had been added to the list as booster options.

China had previously banned the mixing and matching of vaccines, despite international studies suggesting it was effective and some countries recommending such a regimen.

The new mix-and-match strategy is expected to reduce severe illness and deaths from Covid-19 and win the country time to adjust its strict pandemic controls.

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Chinese scientists and regulators have been considering mixing vaccine boosters for most of the last year.

In November, Zheng Zhongwei, head of the government task force on Covid-19 vaccine development, said the possibility was on the table but did not give a timeline for implementation.

The change of strategy would allow adults who have completed a six-month vaccination schedule using inactivated vaccines by Sinopharm and Sinovac opt for a protein vaccine by Anhui Zhifei or a vectored vaccine by CanSino.

Boosting with the same or a different technology is expected to improve the levels of neutralising antibodies, an indicator of immediate immunity protection against a virus.

CanSino said its booster “can significantly increase the neutralising antibody levels with proven safety”.

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But the big question is whether China would allow an mRNA vaccine developed by BioNTech to be used as a booster, even though an expert panel recommended the option to the regulator last year.

BioNTech’s vaccine is distributed globally by Pfizer and in Greater China by Fosun Pharma.

China has used more than 3 billion doses of domestic shots to fully vaccinate 87 per cent of its population but vaccine-induced immunity wanes over time and a booster is needed.

The country is aiming for herd immunity through vaccination as a pathway out the pandemic and the end of its tough zero-Covid control measures.