China promises free jabs for all as Sinopharm’s Covid-19 vaccine approved
- The approval comes with conditions but regulator is confident the vaccine is safe and effective
- National Health Commission says the shot is a ‘public good’ and will be provided to national inoculation programme
Covid-19 vaccines will be provided free for everyone in China as authorities approved market launch of the country’s first vaccine and prepared for a stepped-up national roll-out, officials said.
They are confident the vaccine will work on current variants of the coronavirus which causes Covid-19, but cautioned mass inoculations around the world would prompt more variants to emerge – a scenario scientists are already studying to assess the impact on vaccines and testing kits.
The vaccine, developed by Beijing Institute of Biological Products under the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), was approved with conditions on Wednesday night for market launch, Chen Shifei, deputy head of the National Medical Products Administration, said in a briefing on Thursday morning.
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China approves first domestically developed Covid-19 vaccine
“The administration will urge the company to continue with the Phase 3 trial and complete it with guaranteed quality and updated specifications and labels based on the adverse events and data from post-launch studies.”
Chen said the administration had reviewed the relevant data and conducted a series of site inspections to ensure production quality for the vaccine was up to standard. The trial inspection was done remotely but relied mostly on the investigators, he said.
The Sinopharm vaccine was one of three approved for emergency use in July, all in a two-dose regimen, with more than 1.5 million doses provided by November. A further 3 million doses of vaccines have been given since China started mass inoculation of key groups – people with higher risks of contracting or spreading Covid-19 – two weeks ago, according to Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission.
Zeng said as production ramped up the national inoculation programme would be expanded first to people with a higher risk of developing severe symptoms if infected, including the elderly and people with underlying health conditions, and eventually to the general public.