Liu pointed out in an interview released today by the local press that “the vaccine has been tested on almost one million people” and that “only a small group has had mild adverse effects”.
The official added that “diplomats and students who traveled to more than 150 countries did not test positive for coronavirus after being vaccinated”.
On July 22, China authorized the use of candidate vaccines against coronavirus for certain exceptional cases, such as “protection of health personnel, employees of prevention programs, port inspectors and public service employees”.
Although Liu has not detailed whether the vaccine tested was in all cases Sinopharm’s, he indicated that this group is about to complete the third phase of clinical tests, carried out in ten countries, with the participation of about 60 thousand people.
“We finished collecting blood from 40,000 people 14 days after receiving the two injections necessary for vaccination. The result is very good,” he said.
Chinese officials have not revealed when they will be able to commercialize vaccines on a large scale, but the director of the National Health Commission’s Scientific and Technological Development Center, Zheng Zhongwei, indicated in late October that the Asian country plans to manufacture 610 million doses before at the end of this year, and 1 billion in 2021.
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