China plans to approve its first vaccine against Covid-19 before July, according to people familiar with the issue, as pressure from domestic scientists and the foreign business community to expand beyond the list of features of the country.
Chinese officials have been examining data from clinical trials for the coronavirus vaccine manufactured by Germany’s BioNTech SE and the internal distribution of the green light is expected in the next 10 weeks, according to people who are not in the case, he says. Some of the people were informed of the chronology during a private discussion with government and health officials. The others were government officials briefed on internal discussions.
Most shot manufacturers in China cite data from trials that show their vaccines are almost 100% effective in preventing Covid-19 infections severe enough to require hospitalization when fully administered. But some Chinese public health experts, including the head of China’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have pushed for the introduction of Western vaccines that improve the prevention of milder infections.
Foreign companies want to add Western vaccines to facilitate travel abroad, where foreign shots are more accepted, according to Ker Gibbs, president of the Shanghai American Chamber of Commerce. The chamber has urged the government to approve the BioNTech vaccine, which Pfizer Inc. has been producing and distributing to most of the world since December, he said.
BioNTech agreed in December to work with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co. to deliver 100 million doses to China in 2021, pending approval.