China admits skipping clinical trials in roll-out of Covid vaccine for high-risk groups

As Russian President Vladimir Putin trumpets the launch of the country’s Covid-19 vaccine, China says it’s been administering its own vaccine since late July, foregoing clinical trials. Officials in Beijing say healthcare workers and those employed in state-owned enterprises have been first to receive the vaccine, under what it calls “urgent use” protocols, according to a Nation Thailand report.

The news comes as health officials around the world consider how much they should fast-track normal processes in order to get a Covid-19 vaccine to market as a matter of urgency. While some governments insist they will not cut corners in the development process, they are faced with the devastating cost to human life, along with shattered economies, as a result of the ongoing pandemic.

China first began testing its vaccine on the country’s military, and that has now been expanded to key workers, with the head of the country’s coronavirus vaccine development programme, Zheng Zhongwei, confirming the move on state TV. It’s understood that, come autumn, officials may expand vaccination to employees at food markets, as well as those working in transport and the service industries.

“In order to prevent the disease spread in the fall and winter, we are considering a moderate expansion in the programme. The purpose would be to first build an immunity barrier among special groups in the population.”

Meanwhile, the head of China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, along with several other officials, claim they’ve had the vaccine. And in announcing the Russian vaccine, President Vladmir Putin has downplayed concerns over its safety, saying his own daughter has had it.

The announcements from Moscow and Beijing are making US President Donald Trump impatient, anxious as he may be to announce the arrival of a US-made vaccine in time for the presidential election in November. He has taken to Twitter to accuse the Food and Drug Administration and the “deep state” of delaying the process, without going into any further detail. He is also making much of the FDA’s use of donated plasma from recovered Covid patients as a treatment.

What is not clear when it comes to the Chinese vaccine is why they did not announce its use until a month after the roll-out. There is speculation that officials may have wanted the option of ending it quietly in the event of severe side-effects. The country says few of those who’ve been vaccinated have reported adverse side-effects and none have reported fever. What is not known is now many people have now been vaccinated.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand