Local governments across China have started their orders for experimental vaccines against coronavirus, despite the fact that the health authorities still do not know exactly to what extent they work or how they can reach the 1.4 billion people who live in the country.
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The laboratories are finalizing their latest tests, the Chinese foreign minister said at a United Nations meeting on Thursday. While Moscow, Russia, has already opened vaccination centers and the United Kingdom authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine.
The government has not yet said how many people it intends to vaccinate. Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chunlan indicated that the plans are aimed at vaccinate border personnel and other high-risk groups this month.
China’s fledgling pharmaceutical industry has at least five vaccines from four companies in clinical trials in more than a dozen countries, including Russia, Egypt, and Mexico.
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Health experts say that even if they are successful, the certification process for the United States, Europe, Japan and other developed countries could be too complex to be used there.
However, China said it would ensure that its products were affordable for developing countries.
One of the producers, China National Pharmaceutical Group, known as Sinopharm, indicated in November that it had requested the final marketing authorization for its vaccine in the Asian giant.
Others have been authorized to its emergency use in healthcare personnel and other people considered to be at great risk of contagion.
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“We must be prepared for large-scale production”Sun, who has overseen much of the pandemic’s management in the country, said during a visit to developer companies on Wednesday, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Chinese companies use more traditional techniques than western manufacturers.
Unlike Pfizer’s vaccine, which must be kept at temperatures down to -70 degrees Celsius (-94 degrees Fahrenheit), they have noted that theirs can be stored between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius (36 to 46 Fahrenheit). Chinese manufacturers have not yet detailed how they will be able to distribute the drugs.
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More than a million people in China have received experimental vaccines within the emergency authorization. Health experts question why it has been done so massively now, when the outbreak is largely controlled within its borders.
Health authorities said earlier that China could manufacture 610 million doses by the end of this year and expand the figure to 1,000 million of doses next year.
For the moment, manufacturers have not published effectiveness data and possible side effects of your vaccines.
Sinpharm has ongoing clinical trials in 10 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan, Peru, and Argentina, with nearly 60,000 volunteers. It has built two centers in China that can manufacture 200 million doses a year.
SinovacFor its part, it has trials in Brazil, Turkey and Indonesia. His most recent publication, a study collected in the scientific journal The Lancet, showed that his candidate produced antibody levels lower than those of people recovered from COVID-19. The company estimated that it could produce a few million doses of the vaccine by February or March 2021.
Other manufacturer, CanSino, conducts trials in Russia, Pakistan, and Mexico, and aspires to reach agreements with Latin American countries. His vaccine, which has been used by the Chinese military under emergency authorization, uses a harmless adenovirus to deliver genes to human cells and generate an immune response.
A fourth company, Anhui Zhifei Longcom Biologic Pharmacy Co, is conducting its latest trials at various locations in China.
With information from A.P.
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