Chinese drug firm Sinovac says thousands of employees and their families have been given its Covid-19 vaccine
- Company says almost all those offered CoronaVac under the country’s emergency use scheme agreed to receive the injections
- Chief executive Yin Weidong says he expects the drug to be approved as early as the end of the year
Almost all the employees of a Chinese drug company and their families have been given its experimental coronavirus vaccine, the firm said on Sunday.
The CoronaVac vaccine developed by Sinovac Biotech, is currently undergoing phase three clinical trials.
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Company spokesman Liu Peicheng confirmed that the around 3,000 employees and families had been offered the drug on a voluntary basis under China’s emergency use scheme.
Sinovac’s coronavirus vaccine production line, which has an annual output capacity of more than 300 million doses, started operations at the end of last month.
The vaccine’s entry into the mass market is subject to the results of the latest trials but the company’s chief executive Yin Weidong said he expected its use to be approved as soon as the end of the year.