China preparing mass production of Covid-19 vaccines
December 22, 2020 Category Health, Weekly
Research and development of coronavirus vaccines in China is nearing its conclusion, while preparations are in place for their mass production, said the head of China’s Covid-19 vaccine development task force Zheng Zhongwei, who is also Director of the National Health Commission’s Development Center for Medical Science and Technology. There are five domestically developed vaccines undergoing phase-3 clinical trials, the final stage before attaining approval from authorities. Ten others are in earlier-stage trials. Despite taking a leading role in Covid-19 vaccine R&D, China is not rushing to compete with other countries in this field, Zheng said. Vaccines should be evaluated according to many criteria, including their safety, effectiveness, accessibility and affordability, before they are approved for market use. Although no Covid-19 vaccine has officially been approved by China’s top drug regulator for large-scale use, several vaccines undergoing phase-3 clinical trials have already been put into emergency use since June for priority groups such as front-line health workers, inspection and quarantine officers at ports of entry, and people traveling overseas for work. No serious adverse events have been reported during the process. As phase-3 trials of the Chinese vaccines are conducted abroad, the pace of these trials may be affected by many factors, such as how quickly participants are enrolled, the China Daily reports.
Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co will buy at least 100 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine from Germany’s BioNTech for use on China’s mainland next year. It is, however, still waiting for approval for its use in China. BioNTech granted Fosun Pharma a license to exclusively develop and commercialize its vaccine products based on BioNTech’s proprietary technology platform. For the initial supply of 50 million doses, Fosun will make an advance payment of €125 million by December 30. The remainder will be paid after regulatory approval. The initial supply will come from BioNTech’s production facilities in Germany. Separately, Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Co aims to have enough capacity to produce at least 100 million doses of a vaccine candidate from British partner AstraZeneca by year-end, the Shanghai Daily reports. China plans to vaccinate 50 million people before the 2021 Spring Festival that will fall on February 12 – with the first doses administered by January and the second by February 5.
Meanwhile, two locally-transmitted cases were detected in Beijing at a Hanting hotel in the Dashanzi area. They had come into contact with an imported case quarantining at the hotel. The residents of the surrounding residential areas have all been tested and are not allowed to leave Beijing without a negative test result.
China arranged 351 chartered flights this year to bring more than 73,000 citizens home from 92 countries due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Cui Aimin, Director General of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Consular Affairs, said. However, commercial flights remain the major channel for the return of citizens. He urged the governments of other countries and airlines to keep “corridors in the air” open to allow Chinese citizens to return home. About 10,000 Chinese nationals have taken flights back to China every day recently. Ahead of the Spring Festival holiday in February, Cui advised Chinese to reduce non-essential trips. He urged Chinese nationals abroad to avoid long-distance travel, especially across borders, and said those in China should avoid traveling abroad to minimize the risk of being infected or stranded during their trips, the China Daily reports.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) has decided to extend the time passenger flights are suspended if five or more passengers test positive for the coronavirus. Until further notice, such air routes will be suspended for two weeks, one week longer than previously required. Flights would be suspended for four weeks if 10 or more passengers are tested positive, the same as previously. The measure was taken to lower the number of infected passengers arriving in China. Last week, a Sichuan Airlines’ cargo pilot was confirmed as an imported case. China introduced circuit breaker measures for inbound air flights on June 8, saying that the circuit breaker will be triggered when five passengers traveling on a flight operated by an airline test positive for the virus. The number of suspended flights increased from 3 in June and 7 flights in July to more than 20 flights in August and September, and then to 52 flights in October, according to Han Guangzu, an official from CAAC. By November, the number of suspended flights has come down to around 20. Han said a total of 259 inbound flights have been suspected since the scheme was enforced. In addition, domestic airlines are stepping up efforts to curb imported cases, the Global Times reports.
China has implemented a green channel policy to facilitate travel between countries. Since China and South Korea took the lead in implementing the fast track policy on May 1, China has gradually opened the program to Germany, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and other countries. China has further expanded the scope of application of the “green channel” to cover personnel from almost all countries and all sectors since July, including those involved in preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics. To date, business and technical personnel from more than 60 countries have entered China through the fast track.
Meanwhile, China has proposed the establishment of an international mechanism of health codes allowing for resumption of international exchanges while ensuring public health. The purpose is to allow everyone to go abroad when necessary in the near future with the code. Since February this year, there have been approximately 21,000 inbound passenger flights, of which approximately 8,000 were operated by foreign airlines and 13,000 by Chinese airlines. To prevent cross-border transmission of the coronavirus, all Chinese and foreign passengers bound for China are required to take nucleic acid and IgM anti-body tests. So far, the double negative test measure has been applied in more than 160 countries.
In search for the origin of the coronavirus, a 10-member team of international experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) is expected to visit China in January on a six-week mission, including two weeks of quarantine on arrival in China. The Covid-19 outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, but where an epidemic is first detected does not reflect where it started, according to the WHO. Evidence reported in various countries, such as Italy and Spain, showed that the virus existed much earlier than Wuhan’s first reported case in December 2019. The virus’ genome was found in waste water samples in Spain dating from March 2019.
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