"China, Which Prepared to Introduce Pfizer During Delta Spread, Delays Approval for 5 Months"

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] China has been considering the introduction of the Pfizer vaccine since this summer but has reportedly delayed approval for five months.

According to CNN on the 14th, in July when the Delta variant virus spread, China completed expert reviews on the introduction of the Pfizer vaccine and administrative authorities proceeded with additional reviews.

BioNTech's Chinese partner, Fosun Pharma, also planned to start trial production within China. However, the Chinese government has not yet announced any policy regarding the approval of the Pfizer vaccine.

About 80% of China's population has received the inactivated vaccines Sinovac and Sinopharm, developed by two domestic pharmaceutical companies. China claims these vaccines are effective against the Omicron variant, but according to studies by the World Health Organization (WHO), their efficacy is much lower than that of mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines.

CNN explained, "China's delay in introducing the Pfizer vaccine amid difficulties in responding to COVID-19 with only domestic vaccines is due to political reasons as well as to protect its domestic vaccine manufacturers."

Yan Zhong Huang, Senior Researcher in Global Health at the U.S. Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), said, "China developed its own vaccines and used them as a means to promote technological advancement. In this situation, introducing vaccines made abroad would mean admitting that their technology is inferior to other countries."

Local experts point out that China needs to cooperate more with Western countries in vaccine development. They also stated that using mRNA vaccines or recombinant protein-based vaccines as booster shots after inactivated vaccines like Sinovac and Sinopharm can achieve better results.

A respiratory disease specialist in China emphasized, "China needs to learn good things from other countries like mRNA vaccines. They have researched for years to develop the world's first mRNA vaccine. China should learn from their technology."

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