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Explainer | How China’s drive to develop its own state-of-the-art Covid vaccine is going
- The country has not authorised any mRNA vaccines, despite their proven benefits, a move many observers believe is down to the wish to develop its own version
- Currently a number of candidate vaccines made by Chinese firms are undergoing clinical trials
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China has yet to approve any mRNA vaccines, which have the highest efficacy rates, despite the recent surge in cases in Shanghai.
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The authorities have not explained the delay, even though Fosun Pharmaceuticals has a commercial deal to distribute 100 million doses of BioNTech’s vaccine.
Many analysts believe the authorities are waiting for a home-grown mRNA vaccine to be developed. Here is what we know so far about that quest.
What are the advantages of an mRNA vaccine?
The vaccines – which use messenger RNA to teach the body to generate a protein that will trigger an immune response – have a much higher efficacy rate than ones made using older forms of technology.
The first mRNA vaccines produced by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech had efficacy rates of above 90 per cent, well above some of the inactivated vaccines produced in China – which use dead matter from the virus to trigger an immune response.
How much progress has been made?
Some mRNA vaccines are undergoing phase 3 clinical trials while others are “in the review and approval process”, Lei Zhenglong, a National Health Commission official said last month.
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Door-to-door vaccine services for housebound elderly and disabled residents in Hong Kong
Door-to-door vaccine services for housebound elderly and disabled residents in Hong Kong
A vaccine developed by Abogen Biosciences, Walvax Biotechnology and the PLA Academy of Military Science is currently undergoing an extensive trial in China, Mexico and Indonesia.
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