China to roll out 3rd COVID-19 vaccine

ANKARA

China will roll out its third COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday after it was approved for emergency use.

“An inactivated COVID-19 vaccine… is recommended for use on adults 18 years and older in a two-dose schedule with a spacing of two to four weeks,” local news outlet People’s Daily reported.

China’s other two vaccines -- Sinopharm and Sinovac -- have already been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) and are in use across the globe.

The country has 20 vaccine candidates currently undergoing clinical trials.

China has supplied its vaccines to at least 66 countries and international organizations.

Earlier, a Chinese health official had asked the WHO to exempt new vaccine candidates from human trials for emergency use.

Besides, Chen Wei, a Chinese military infectious disease expert, last week said her team is “applying for emergency use of a kind of COVID-19 vaccine that can be administered through inhalation.” Chen works with Chinese vaccine producer CanSino.

According to the country’s National Health Commission (NHC), China administered 808.96 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccines until Tuesday.

China has reported 91,316 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 4,636 deaths since the outbreak of this deadly infection in December 2019.