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Nearly one million people in China have taken an emergency Covid-19 vaccine that is still being tested, the company that developed the vaccine said.
Chinese authorities released the vaccine, developed by the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), to select groups of people in July, including Chinese government officials, students and workers traveling overseas, before the vaccines were shown to work.
Sinopharm’s claims, made in an interview with President Liu Jingzhen published on WeChat, did not specify which of his vaccines had been administered, but said that people had traveled to more than 150 countries around the world and “not there was only one case of infection after inoculation ”.
“Only the individual patients had some mild symptoms,” he said.
Sinopharm’s two vaccine candidates are among five Chinese candidates in international clinical trials because the domestic prevalence of the disease is very low. At least three – all inactivated vaccines from Sinopharm and Sinovac – have been approved for emergency use outside of clinical trials, and some local governments have reportedly allowed residents to take the Sinovac vaccine.
In September, the UAE was the first country outside of China to approve the emergency use of Sinopharm’s vaccine.
Trials abroad have caused some controversy, in part due to a lack of communication from the Chinese authorities. In August, 48 Chinese construction workers were barred from entering Papua New Guinea for fear of having received an unnamed experimental vaccine.
China has promised to provide more countries with its vaccines, offering potentially conflicting promises to prioritize places like the Philippines and nations in Africa. Speaking at the Apec conference on Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping promised closer international coordination on policies for the development and distribution of a vaccine.
About a dozen candidate vaccines around the world are in the late stages of testing, and as mass production of vaccines approaches, governments have begun to prioritize recipients.
Pfizer / BioNTech already released interim data last week and final data this week showing that its vaccine protects nearly 95% of people from getting sick. US firm Moderna showed similar results in interim data.
Alex Azar, the US secretary of health, said Pfizer will apply for an emergency use authorization Friday for its vaccine this week. Infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci said both Pfizer and Moderna have shown “extraordinarily impressive” efficacy and that the US government “will provide top priority doses of the vaccine to people in late December. “.
Meanwhile, the British vaccine group from Oxford has lowered expectations that the 100 million doses ordered by the UK will be ready by Christmas, saying it does not compete with other companies.
The UK’s order for 40 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine may come sooner, but its 5 million doses of Moderna likely won’t arrive until early next year.
Additional reporting by Lillian Yang
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