Beijing: After one month of clinical trials, China officially approved the immediate use of coronavirus vaccines on July 22, the Global Times reported.
Zheng Zhongwei, Director of the Development Center for Medical Science and Technology of the National Health Commission announced the launch on Saturday.
To prevent an outbreak in Autumn and Winter, the vaccines will be offered to people working in food markets, traffic systems, and service sectors, Zheng, who leads China's vaccine development, said.
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"The vaccines will be available on their cost, lower than what State-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd., also known as SinoPharm had disclosed before," Zheng added.
"Over 20,000 people in the UAE had taken inactivated coronavirus vaccines in the Phase III trial. Though the efficacy of the vaccine is currently under observation, the clinical trial has shown a high level of safety," Yang Xiaoming, chairman at SinoPharm, said on the same program, where Zheng announced the vaccines.
Reportedly, SinoPharm announced in July that it gave experimental shots of a vaccine to its employees before the government approved testing in people.
In Indonesia, another Chinese company, Sinovac Biotech Ltd., began testing a vaccine this month on 1,620 volunteers in partnership with state-owned Bio Farma.
