10月22日早间英文播报：Trials of China's vaccines make major progress

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A staffmember takes out samples of the COVID-19 inactivated vaccine at a vaccineproduction plant of Sinopharm in Beijing, on April 11, 2020. [Photo/Xinhua]

No severe adverse effects reported in60,000 recipients, science official says

Norecipient of China's COVID-19 vaccine approved for emergency use has reportedsevere adverse effects, and no vaccine recipient who went to work in countrieswhere the pandemic is still ongoing has been infected, officials said onTuesday.

Chinacurrently has 13 vaccine candidates in clinical trials, of which threeinactivated vaccines and one adenovirus vector vaccine are in phase threetrials overseas, said Tian Baoguo, deputy head of the Department of Science andTechnology for Social Development of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

About60,000 volunteers have been inoculated with the four vaccine candidatescurrently in phase three trials, Tian said at a news briefing held by the JointPrevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council.

No severeadverse reaction has been reported among them, and preliminary results showthat these vaccines are generally safe and only have minor side effects such aspain and bruising at the injection site, as well as temporary low-grade fever,he added.

LiuJingzhen, chairman of China National Pharmaceutical Group Co, or Sinopharm,said third-stage clinical trials of two inactivated vaccine candidatesdeveloped by the company are being conducted in 10 foreign countries, includingthe United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Argentina, Egypt and Peru.

"Thecurrent feedback is very satisfactory and we have received wide recognitionfrom the international community," Liu said, adding that there are nowdozens of countries asking for the company's vaccines.

ZhengZhongwei, head of China's COVID-19 vaccine development task force, said thenation's annual COVID-19 vaccine production capacity could reach 610 milliondoses this year and it will expand further next year. Liu said his companywould achieve an annual production capacity of 1 billion doses next year.

Whenasked about the emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in China, Zhengsaid China is currently facing great pressure from small clusters of outbreaksdomestically and from imported cases.

As aresult, it is a necessary measure to approve COVID-19 vaccines for emergencyuse in high-risk demographics, such as front-line medical personnel, borderstaff, people traveling overseas to work and essential workers, he said.

"China'svaccine emergency use authorization process is strictly governed and conductedin accordance with related laws and regulations," Zheng said, adding thatChina has notified the World Health Organization's representative in the nationabout the emergency authorization and has received the organization'sunderstanding and support.

Meanwhile,an approval committee headed by Zhong Nanshan, China's leading respiratorydisease expert, along with other top experts in law, ethics and clinicalmedicine, is tasked with screening and selecting which vaccine gets approvedfor emergency use, Zheng said.

Allvaccine recipients are voluntarily inoculated and are fully aware of the risksinvolved, Zheng said, adding that there are mechanisms to closely monitor therecipients for any adverse effects should they occur.

"Wehave not received reports of any recipient of the Chinese COVID-19 vaccineapproved for emergency use as having severe adverse effects," Zheng said,adding that there was no report of infection after they arrived at theirdestination country.

Gao Qiang,general manager of Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac Biotech, said the company hasestablished a robust adverse effect monitoring system in accordance with globalguidelines with all its foreign partners, including in Brazil, Indonesia andTurkey.

"Wehave not received a single report of vaccine-related severe adverse effectsfrom our partners," he said.

Domestically,China has a world-class adverse effect surveillance system that is certified bythe WHO for vaccines on the market, according to the Chinese Center for DiseaseControl and Prevention. This system has played a key role in tracking andinvestigating vaccine-related adverse effect incidents over the past decade, itadded.

ZhaoXing, a Foreign Ministry official, said China is proactively fulfilling itspromise of making COVID-19 vaccines a global public good and promotingequitable access to safe and effective vaccines, especially for developingcountries.

On Oct 8,China joined COVAX, an initiative co-led by the WHO and partners to ensureefficient and equitable global access to a COVID-19 vaccine. As of Tuesday, 184countries and regions have joined the initiative.

"Ourvaccine development is leading the world, and we have enough productioncapacity, but we still want to join COVAX because we want to promote equal andfair access to the vaccine under the initiative," Zhao said.

"Byjoining the initiative, hopefully we can encourage more countries toparticipate in the project as well," he said, adding that China willenhance international collaboration to contribute to global public health andsafeguard the well-being of people around the world.

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记者：张之豪、王小予

播报：AndrewPasek

音频编辑：万月英

原文链接：

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202010/21/WS5f8f6b55a31024ad0ba7fe52.html