Take a deep breath: A health worker administering a dose of CanSino Biologics inhalable Covid-19 vaccine in Lianyungang in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. — AFP
BEIJING: Residents in the capital can start making appointments for an inhalable Covid-19 booster made by CanSino Biologics, media reported, while those in Tianjin city can now get it as the Chinese pharmaceutical firm distributes more supplies.
CanSino’s vaccine, called Convidecia Air, is an aerosol version of an inactive shot and was approved as an emergency-use booster by Chinese health authorities in September.
The financial hub of Shanghai and 13 cities in the eastern province of Jiangsu have already introduced the CanSino vaccine as a booster, the company had said.
Appointments for the vaccine in the capital can be booked on a mobile phone app for residents of one district, the official Beijing Business Daily reported yesterday.
Increasing the uptake of vaccinations is vital for China, which is sticking resolutely to its strict zero-Covid policy that aims to prevent large-scale outbreaks and fatalities, especially among the elderly.
China has relied on domestically produced, inactivated shots and has yet to import, or introduce its own version of an mRNA vaccine.
According to official data, more than 90% of China’s population has been vaccinated.
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Regarding the efficacy of its vaccine, Hong Kong-listed CanSino said in a statement on Wednesday that studies showed “using Convidecia Air as a heterologous booster generated much stronger immune responses than those induced by a homologous inactivated vaccine booster”.
The vaccine will be available in Tianjin from Thursday, it said.
The Hong Kong shares of CanSino rose as much as 11.8% to HK$119.80 on Thursday, their biggest gain since Nov 4. — Reuters
The first clinical trial of the novel coronavirus vaccine in China has kicked off as volunteers taking part in the project started to share
their experience on social media, a Chinese newspaper reported on Saturday. China Daily/ANN
The first clinical trial of the novel coronavirus vaccine in China has kicked off as volunteers taking part in the project started to share their experience on social media, a Chinese newspaper reported on Saturday.
On Thursday, a female volunteer posted two pictures of her taking the vaccine shot as a part of the phase 1 clinical trial for recombinant novel coronavirus vaccine on China’s Twitter-like social media platform Sina Weibo, according to the Science and Technology Daily.
The clinical trial was filed in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry on March 17.
According to its registration information, the trial is jointly sponsored by the Institute of Biotechnology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, People’s Liberation Army and CanSino Biologics Inc based in Tianjin.
The trial is being carried out on healthy adults between the ages of 18 and 60 in two medical facilities in Wuhan, Hubei province. The study is set to be completed by Dec 31, according to the registry.
All 108 volunteers are from Wuhan that was hit hard by the outbreak. They will receive a series of follow-up examinations within six months after injection to see if their bodies have generated antibodies to the virus, the registry said,
Wang Junzhi, a senior expert on drug and vaccine development, said earlier this month that China is simultaneously conducting nine vaccine development projects, and most of them are expected to complete preclinical trials and begin human tests in April.
In general, China’s vaccine development against Covid-19 is among the world’s front-runners, he added.
On March 16, the novel coronavirus vaccine developed by Chen and her
team entered clinical trials. On March 20, 108 volunteers were injected
with the COVID-19 vaccine developed by China.
The COVID-19 epidemic in the US is worsening sharply as the
federal government approved major disaster declarations for New York,
California and Washington states, and the situation in Washington DC
worsened, with local police shutting down streets to stop mass
gatherings .
China's image will not be dented by lies which will however
ultimately hurt Americans. There are three main “China lies” promoted
by the Trump administration.
This is a war, and a new battle line has been drawn.
Prevention of imported cases and resumption of production are two new
fronts we must not lose. The future is still complicated and we will
continue to face severe tests.
But no matter how the Trump administration tries to
deceive people, their serious dereliction of duty and the consequences
are clear and cannot be veneered.
There is plenty of evidence showing the US federal government's slowness
in dealing with the virus and Trump's downplaying of the epidemic.
