ExclusiveChina offers Covid-19 vaccine to foreign diplomats – but will they take it?

European diplomat says his colleagues would prefer to have shots being given in their home country

But travelling home to get vaccinated could mean complications on return

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China plans to inoculate 40 per cent of the population by July. Photo: AP

Published: 5:00pm, 5 Mar 2021Updated: 5:35pm, 5 Mar 2021

China has offered foreign diplomats in Beijing inoculation with one of its coronavirus vaccines, possibly as early as this month.

But the offer has had a mixed response among overseas diplomats amid concerns that the shots could complicate future travel.

Diplomatic sources said the protocol department at the Chinese foreign ministry told them this week that they could be given a vaccine developed by state firm Sinopharm.

Its developers reported an efficacy rate of 79 per cent against symptomatic Covid-19 and the product was approved for public use in China in December. It was granted emergency use in July and given to some senior Chinese officials and Chinese diplomats at the time.

The vaccine went through large-scale phase 3 human trials in 10 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, and has been authorised for emergency elsewhere in the world, but so far the developers have not published detailed results of those trials.

The vaccine is being reviewed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use listing.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} European diplomat says his colleagues would prefer to have shots being given in their home country But travelling home to get vaccinated could mean complications on return

European diplomat says his colleagues would prefer to have shots being given in their home country

But travelling home to get vaccinated could mean complications on return