Jiaxing City Rolls Out Experimental Covid Vaccine

A double-dose experimental coronavirus vaccine that costs 400 yuan is being made available to some residents in Jiaxing city in Zhejiang, health officials said, as they provided the first details of a mass rollout for an as-yet unproven vaccine.

Jiaxing city officials said that residents aged between 18 and 59 with "urgent needs" can seek consultations at clinics for a Sinovac Biotech vaccine that authorities have been giving to groups such as medical workers.

The statement from Jiaxing's centre for disease control and prevention did not specify what constituted "urgent needs".

Authorities did not say how many people in the city had been given the vaccine, which comes in two doses, administered up to 28 days apart.

The mainland has already given hundreds of thousands of essential workers at ports, hospitals and other high-risk areas across the country an experimental vaccine, according to officials.

But even as 11 Chinese vaccines have entered clinical trials – with four in advanced Phase Three trials – none have been approved for mass market distribution.

The authorities have approved some candidates for emergency use, with officials saying they have not seen serious adverse reactions.

Beijing has also made bold predictions on a broader rollout before year-end as it battles a storm of international criticism over its early handling of the outbreak, which emerged in Wuhan last year. (AFP)