China plans to have 600 million units of its vaccines ready by the end of the month

Amid the big announcements around Western covid vaccines, and the UK approval this week of the one made by Pfizer, Chinese formulas - which months ago aimed to take the lead - appeared to have lagged behind.

But one of the heads of the coordinating team in the Chinese government has promised "a big announcement" over the next two weeks.

And that the country's pharmaceutical companies will have 600 million units ready for distribution before the end of this month.

In a seminar in the city of Wuhan - the first focus of the pandemic - Wang Junzhi, the "number two" of the coordination team, has promised that "as planned, there will be 600 million doses of vaccines ready for launch by market this year, ”according to the

newspaper

on its social media account.

In the race to get an effective and safe vaccine against the coronavirus in the shortest possible time, China already has four in the third and final phase of testing.

Two of them have been developed by the state pharmaceutical CNBG.

The third, by the Sinovac firm;

the last one is from Cansino Biologics.

China also participates through the pharmaceutical company Fosun Pharma in the consortium headed by the American Pfizer and the German BioNTech.

Unlike the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, which use RNA molecules in an innovative technique, the CNBG and Sinovac proposals have opted for the traditional route: the use of inactivated virus remains, which are inoculated into the human body so that the immune system recognizes the threat and begins to produce antibodies.

It is the same method that you use against bird flu, or that is still used worldwide against polio or flu,

According to Wang, "since the virus remains are the closest thing to the natural structure (of the virus), the response of the immune system is relatively strong, and the vaccine is safe."

In addition, the compound is more stable and does not create as many logistical problems as those of its competitors.

Unlike Pfizer or Moderna medicines, which require very low temperatures, it can be transported at a temperature between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

"The vaccine in our country can be a leader in the world," he said.

But although they are easier to transport and manufacture, Chinese vaccines need two doses to be effective and can have greater side effects.

Among other risks, some people inoculated with these formulas may end up contracting the disease they are trying to avoid.

All Chinese vaccines have had to carry out their phase III human tests in volunteers from 16 countries, in Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, since in China there are no longer enough cases of infection by the new coronavirus such as to be reliable.

Since May, after defeating the Wuhan outbreak, this country has barely suffered a few hundred local infections.

Officially, since it began to detect the first cases a year ago, 91,000 people have been infected, of which 4,739 have died.

Although none of the Chinese proposals has yet to be approved for release, one of them, developed by CNBG, has already requested approval.

China approved the emergency use of some vaccines in tests in June, and has since inoculated personnel deemed essential, including military personnel, public transport drivers or workers in markets.

Sinovac has indicated that it has administered the formula to 90% of its staff as they are considered risk workers.

The vaccine has also been administered to students who were planning to study abroad.

According to Sinopharm, so far - and although it has not yet received permission for its commercialization - its vaccine has already been inoculated “to about a million people for emergency use.

We have not received any reports of serious adverse reactions, only some people have suffered minor symptoms, "said its president, Liu Jingzhen.

Since the race for the vaccine began, China has ensured that it will make its drugs available to countries that want them, and has prepared for mass production.

In a visit in September to the Sinovac laboratories in Beijing, its CEO Lin Weidong explained to various international media, including EL PAÍS, that this firm could manufacture about 300 million units annually from next year alone in those facilities .

This company plans to deliver 46 million of its Coronavac to Brazil, 50 million to Turkey and 40 million doses of concentrated product to Indonesia for local production.

Cansino will deliver 35 million of its version to Mexico.

CNBG, which ensures that next year it could manufacture 1 million units of its medicines, expects to produce 100 million units in collaboration with the United Arab Emirates.

Available to other countries

The second largest economy in the world has also promised priority access to its vaccines to partner countries, such as the nations of the Mekong Basin - Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar -, neighbors and for the most part with a weak health system. Also to participants in his initiative of the Silk Road and the Shanghai Organization for Cooperation, a security alliance promoted by Beijing. China has joined the COVAX mechanism of the World Health Organization and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), which ensure that medicines reach all countries in the world regardless of their purchasing power and that products that are distributed are safe and effective. In May, Chinese President Xi Jinping assured the World Health Assembly that China would consider its vaccine a "global public good" and would be China's contribution to "ensure that developing countries have access to a affordable vaccine ”.