BEIJING (CHINA) – Beijing gave approval to Sinovac Biotech Ltd’s coronavirus vaccine candidate CoronaVac in July for emergency use. It is part of a programme to vaccinate high-risk categories such as medical staff.
China National Biotec Group (CNBG), which is a unit of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm), said on WeChat on Sunday that it had also got approval for emergency use of its candidate.
CNBG has two vaccines in phase three trials.
Beijing has been giving experimental shots to high risk categories since July and a health ministry official said that the government was considering expanding the ambit of the emergency use programme to prevent a possible outbreak of the virus during the fall and winter.
In June, state media had reported that government officials travelling overseas were allowed to take one of the two shots developed by CNBG and the military had also given approval for CanSino Biologics’ vaccine candidate.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.