Coronavirus: China has been using Covid-19 vaccine candidate on key workers since July, health official says
- Border officials and health workers among first to get jabs as they are more likely to get infected, government adviser Zheng Zhongwei says
- Scheme will later be rolled out to include people working in the transport and service sectors and at wet markets, he says
The government authorised the “emergency use” of the vaccine on July 22, Zheng Zhongwei, director of the National Health Commission’s (NHC’s) science and technology development centre, said in an interview with state broadcaster CCTV.
Zheng, who is also head of an expert panel that advises the government on Covid-19, said the decision to begin inoculating certain groups was “in line with the law”.
He did not say which product had been used or whether the programme involved more than one. Four of the seven vaccine candidates undergoing final phase testing around the world are manufactured by Chinese companies.
Health workers and border officials were chosen to be among the first people to receive the inoculations as they were more likely than most to get infected with the coronavirus, Zheng said.