"China Vaccinates Hundreds of Thousands with COVID-19 Vaccine in Clinical Trials... Experts Express Concerns"

Sinovac Vaccine Administered to 10,000 People in Beijing Only...Wide Range Including Pharmaceutical Staff, Government Officials, Journalists
Plans to Expand Emergency Use to School and Kindergarten Teachers, Convenience Store Employees, and More

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] It has been reported that in China, an experimental vaccine for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which has not yet completed all clinical trial phases, has been administered to hundreds of thousands of people separately from clinical trials, raising concerns among health experts. The Chinese government has vaccinated not only pharmaceutical company employees but also government officials and journalists, and plans to expand emergency approval to teachers and convenience store workers in the future.

According to foreign media such as The New York Times (NYT) on the 26th (local time), the Chinese government has vaccinated pharmaceutical company employees as well as employees of state-owned enterprises, government officials, and journalists with COVID-19 vaccines developed domestically. While the vaccines under development in China are undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials abroad, they have been widely administered to Chinese citizens separately.

NYT reported that the exact number of Chinese people vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine has not been disclosed, but it is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. Previously, the Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical company Sinopharm announced that hundreds of thousands had received the vaccine it developed, and the vaccine developed by Sinovac was reported to have been administered to more than 10,000 people in Beijing alone. Sinovac had earlier stated that most of its 3,000 employees and their families had also been vaccinated. Hong Kong's Phoenix TV recently reported that Chinese journalists received the Sinopharm vaccine.

Since approving emergency use of the vaccine in July, the Chinese government has stated that it would prioritize vaccination for medical personnel, epidemic control workers, border inspection officers, and essential urban workers, and the target group for vaccination is gradually expanding. The Chinese government plans to further expand emergency use to include school and kindergarten teachers, supermarket employees, nursing home staff, and visitors to high-risk overseas areas soon. There are even plans to approve vaccine use for the general public as early as November.

NYT stated that China is making a huge gamble on the success of the vaccine, and these measures by China are perplexing global health experts. Jerome Kim, Director General of the International Vaccine Institute, expressed concern that "it could lead to many negative outcomes," warning that people vaccinated with unverified vaccines "might unknowingly spread the virus after becoming infected."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.