China has granted emergency use authorization for the first domestically developed mRNA vaccine for Covid-19, developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical company, SinoVac. The vaccine has been approved for use after being recommended by the National Health Commission and approved by the National Medical Products Administration, according to a report by Shin Kyeong-bo. This marks the first use of an mRNA vaccine developed by a Chinese company, with the previous mRNA vaccine approved for emergency use in Indonesia having been developed by China’s Wushen Bio.
SinoVac began clinical trials of its mRNA vaccine in April 2020 after receiving emergency approval from the authorities, and announced in July 2021 that the vaccine was shown to be safe and effective in more than 5,500 clinical trial participants. Previously, China had primarily administered traditional inactivated virus vaccines, such as those developed by Sinopharm and Sinovac, and had not approved the use of mRNA vaccines developed by foreign companies.
China faced a large-scale outbreak of Covid-19 from December 2020 to February 2021, but the outbreak has since been largely contained. Chinese medical authorities have warned that they expect to see 2-3 more waves of infections and are encouraging vaccination to help prevent further outbreaks.