China Allows Foreigners in Country to Receive Imported Vaccines... 'German-US Jointly Developed Vaccine'

Approval of Vaccine Jointly Developed by Germany's BioNTech and U.S. Pfizer

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] China is allowing the use of foreign-made vaccines for the first time in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

According to major foreign media on the 4th, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited China that day, stated at a press conference, "China will allow the administration of the German BioNTech vaccine to foreigners residing in the country."

Chancellor Scholz added, "Of course, this is only the first step," and said, "I hope that soon the range of eligible recipients (who can receive the BioNTech vaccine) will expand so that Chinese citizens can also freely access it."

The vaccine, jointly developed by Germany's BioNTech and the United States' Pfizer, is the first foreign-made vaccine to be administered in China.

Chancellor Scholz said that although China and Germany have taken different approaches in the fight against the coronavirus, they share a joint responsibility to eliminate COVID-19.

A BioNTech spokesperson announced after Chancellor Scholz's remarks that their vaccine will be imported into China for the first time.

Meanwhile, since the outbreak of COVID-19 in January 2020, China has only allowed domestically developed inactivated vaccines and has blocked the market entry of foreign-made mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, proudly maintaining its "self-reliant epidemic prevention" policy.

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