Vice-premier urges focus on vaccine research

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan on Wednesday stressed giving impetus to COVID-19 vaccine research in a scientific and rigorous manner, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine.

Leading a central government group to oversee the vaccine research and production work in Beijing, Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks at a symposium with experts and workers at the front line.

Sun expressed appreciation for the devotion and coordination shown by members of the vaccine research team, which raced against time and greatly contributed to the major achievements realized in the research work.

Noting that an orderly manner should be maintained during clinical testing, Sun underscored that vaccine approval procedures should be conducted strictly in accordance with laws and regulations to meet international standards.

"Vaccine safety must be guaranteed, and illegal activities should be severely punished to ensure a favorable market environment," she said while urging related departments to improve quality tracking efforts to ensure vaccine safety.

Sun said preparations for mass vaccine production are in need.

"An overall plan should also be made to arrange the sequences and vaccination times for different population groups. Professional training is required to be done in advance," she added.

China has adopted five technological approaches to developing COVID-19 vaccines－inactivated vaccines, recombinant protein vaccines, adenovirus vector vaccines, vaccines using attenuated influenza viruses as vectors, and nucleic acid vaccines.

A total of 14 domestic vaccines are going through clinical tests. Of them, there are five vaccines currently undergoing Phase III clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Pakistan and Peru. Other vaccines are undergoing Phase I and II clinical trials.

Considering the epidemic control and prevention needs in winter, Sun said workers at the country's ports and related staff on the front line will be on the priority list.

She urged related departments to conduct strict supervision and management over vaccine research, production, transportation and use. Moreover, she asked for enhanced publicity and education to raise public awareness of vaccine safety and prevention work on other diseases.

On Monday, Turkish media reported that volunteers given a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine candidate in clinical trials have reported no major side effects.

Phase III trials of the vaccine in Turkey started on Sept 15 with health workers and volunteers at higher risk of infection at 25 centers across 12 provinces.

So far, they have reported no significant side effects. Some of the most common ones include fatigue, headaches, muscle pain and fevers, the report said.

At a recent news conference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that China has always actively carried out international vaccine cooperation through multilateral and bilateral channels and has maintained close communication and cooperation with international organizations.

He said China participated in the World Health Organization-sponsored Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator initiative and joined the COVAX facility to promote the fair distribution of vaccines and ensure that they are provided to developing countries.

After research and development is complete, Zhao said China expects its vaccines will be included on the purchasing list of the COVAX initiative at an early date, contributing to their accessibility and affordability in developing countries.

Xinhua contributed to this story.