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| Vaccine development processes that usually take years have been compressed into months in many places, encouraged by politicians who are seeking a quick fix for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. (File photo by= Lintao Zhang/Bloomberg) |
[Asia News Communication = Reporter Reakkana] Chinese state-run Sinopharm Group that is developing two COVID-19 vaccines is offering it free to Chinese students going abroad for higher studies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday (Oct 14).
China National Biotec Group (CNBG) aims to boost public confidence in local made vaccines, the Journal reported, providing a company website and students who applied for it.The company announced the distribution of vaccines to students appeared on a website where people could sign up to receive it, the newspaper reported.The website said on Monday that 481,613 people had taken the vaccine while an extra 93,653 had applied to be inoculated, according to the report.
The website was down starting on Tuesday, the report said, adding that it was "under maintenance".CNBG did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. China launched a vaccine emergency use programme in July, offering three experimental shots developed by a unit of state pharmaceutical giant China National Pharmaceutical Group and US-listed Sinovac Biotech.
