What’s new: Guangdong, southern China’s trading hub, has vaccinated 180,000 people with higher Covid-19 infection risks, the provincial government said Wednesday.
None of those who received the vaccination has shown serious adverse reactions, said Duan Yufei, public health chief of Guangdong, home of 115 million.
Free vaccinations have been provided to people with higher virus exposure risk, including customs officials, long-haul drivers, health-care workers, public transport system employees and people who need to go abroad for work or study, according to Duan. Inoculations for the rest of the population have yet to become available.
The background: The Guangdong government didn’t specify which vaccine it is giving to the public. Covid-19 vaccines currently available in China include an inactivated vaccine developed by state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group Corp. (Sinopharm), a similar one produced by private Sinovac Biotech Ltd. and an adenoviral vector shot from CanSino Biologics.
China has launched Covid-19 vaccinations for certain groups of people under an emergency program, although none of the domestic vaccine developers has completed final-stage testing at home due to the waning outbreak in China. Regulators have yet to grant official approval to any of the vaccines for mass vaccination.
Earlier this month, the vaccine developed by Sinopharm was reported to have protected 86% of people against Covid-19 in final-stage trials conducted in the United Arab Emirates, winning approval for full public use in the Mideast country.
Sinopharm said in mid-December that its vaccine has been given to more than 650,000 people in China since June under the emergency program.
Related: Cover Story: The Daunting Challenge of Immunizing the World
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com).
