China to make 65M H1N1 vaccines by year-end

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-21 23:35

In this July 2, 2009 file photo, China's Health Minister Chen Zhu attends a health summit in Cancun, Mexico. [Agencies]

BEIJING: China will be able to produce enough influenza A(H1N1) vaccines for 65 million people by the end of this year, health minister Chen Zhu said Friday.

Currently 10 Chinese producers of seasonal flu vaccines are in a global race for the research and development of A(H1N1) flu vaccines, Chen said at an international experts meeting in Beijing.

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One Chinese company announced early this week that it had completed medical trials on a new vaccine, with promising results.

Chen said there were already plans for clinical trials on vaccines developed by other companies, and the State Food and Drug Administration would fast-track the approval of new vaccines once they passed safety evaluation.

"The output of the companies by the end of this year will be able to cover 5 percent of the national population (or about 65 million people)," he told the International Scientific Symposium on Influenza A(H1N1) Pandemic Response and Preparedness.

Like other countries, China has made its plan for vaccine stocks to prevent possible new outbreaks of A(H1N1) flu later this year. Vaccination usually is first carried out among high risk groups and vulnerable people such as medics, the elderly and children, not necessarily the entire population.

It is believed that China's production capacity of A(H1N1) flu vaccines could be further expanded once more companies, beyond Sinovac Biotech Company, developed the vaccine.

Sinovac, a Beijing-based company, announced Tuesday that it had completed clinical tests on a new vaccine for the A(H1N1) flu virus, which proves to be "safe and effective". This was seen as a good start for the production and use of the vaccine.

This was also welcomed by officials with the World Health Organization (WHO) at the meeting on Friday.

"We are very encouraged by preliminary but promising results from the clinical trails of A(H1N1) vaccine," said Shin Young-soo, WHO's Regional Director for the Western Pacific.

Shin said China has an important role to play in the global fight against the flu pandemic, including vaccine development and production for the developing world.

"I am pleased by China's preparedness and response to A(H1N1), given its large population," Shin said. "We would greatly welcome an initiative by the Chinese government to support developing and needy countries in a fair distribution of this vaccine."