Official: China to make COVID-19 vaccine global public good

Wang Zhigang, minister of science and technology, addresses a news conference on a white paper on China’s fight against COVID-19 by the State Council Information Office in Beijing, June 7, 2020. SCIO.GOV.CN via China Daily/Asia News Network

BEIJING — China will maintain its promise of upholding COVID-19 vaccine as a global public good and provide it to people around the world, the country’s minister of science and technology said on Sunday.

Vaccine is the most essential tool in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic, and many countries have made its development a high priority, Wang Zhigang said during a press conference on the publishing of a white paper on China’s fight against COVID-19 by the State Council Information Office.

Wang said China right now has one adenovirus vector and four inactivated vaccines in clinical trials. “China’s overall vaccine development is on par with other countries, and for some vaccines, it is at the forefront of the world,” he said.

“However, vaccine development is an extremely complicated and rigorous scientific undertaking, it is hard and requires time,” he said. There are also many uncertainties surrounding scientific research, he added.

“Vaccine development is more like an exquisitely choreographed dance, not an improvised performance,” he said.

He stressed that safety, potency and accessibility are three priorities for vaccine development, and China will keep collaborating with other countries to tackle this undertaking.

If Chinese COVID-19 vaccines were proven to be successful and applicable, Wang said China would fulfill its promise of providing them as a global public good and make them accessible to the world.