Health

China may start coronavirus vaccinations in November, says expert

Beijing, Sep 15 (efe-epa).- Vaccination of Chinese citizens against Covid-19 could begin in November or December after smooth clinical trials, an expert from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said on Tuesday.

CDC chief biosafety expert Wu Guizhen expressed confidence that the vaccines against Covid-19 could remain effective for about one to three years, state-run newspaper Global Times reported.

Wu said China was leading the race for a vaccine since five of the nine vaccines that have reached the third phase of clinical trials worldwide were being developed by China.

Wu took part in one of the trials conducted in the country.

“I was injected with the vaccine in April as a trial volunteer. I feel good right now,” she said.

About the manufacture of vaccines, Wu said experts from the National Health Commission were “intensively” reviewing the production plants.

She said authorities have already greenlighted two of them.

Since the virus is high-risk, the expert said vaccines needed to be produced in a negative pressure environment that prevents the pathogen from being filtered out to the outside or other rooms.

Beijing approved the emergency use of vaccines for health and other sectors at the end of July, That means the general population would not be the first to be vaccinated in November if that date is met.

An executive of China National Biotec Group Company, developer of two of the Chinese vaccines that are in Phase III of clinical trials, said hundreds of thousands of Chinese have already been injected with at least two experimental vaccines without showing any infection or side effects.

So far, human clinical trials with just under 40 possible vaccines have begun worldwide.

Out of these, a dozen are being conducted in China. EFE-EPA

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