China has been distributing coronavirus vaccines that have not yet been approved as safe and effective.
China has four vaccines that are currently in Phase 3 trials. Both Sinopharm and Sinovac, the two largest vaccine makers in China, have said that their vaccine is not ready for commercial use.
But Sinopharm and Sinovac have inoculated hundreds of thousands of Chinese since July, according to NPR. Most of those are state workers. Sinovac has established “first-come-first-serve” vaccination sites in the Zhejiang province of coastal China that sell a few hundred doses each day for about $60 USD.
Some experts say there is no reason for China to be distributing vaccines before Phase 3 trials have been completed. “There is no emergency in China, because there are basically zero confirmed cases over many months already,” Jin Dong-Yan, who researches molecular virology at Hong Kong University, told NPR.
Perhaps the biggest danger of an unproven vaccine is that it gives people a sense of invulnerability when the vaccine does not prevent infection. Such a person could still spread the virus after being vaccinated.
But many Chinese say that they need the vaccine to travel outside the country. “I need the vaccine. The pandemic is so bad outside China,” said Cheng Litong, a construction worker for China Railway.
China has already agreed to sell the vaccine to the Philippines, and Brazil is currently testing the Chinese vaccine in Phase 3 trials.
