China Prepares to Launch Mass Swine Flu Vaccination Campaign

China is set to become the first country in the world to begin a mass vaccination campaign against the H1N1 pandemic, but there are concerns over possible side effects, according to the World Health Organization (WHO; Geneva, Switzerland).

With two new vaccines developed by Sinovac Biotech (Beijing, China) and Hualan Biological Engineering (Henan, China), both approved for use by the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA; Beijing, China), China is expected to inoculate 65 million people by the end of 2009, a small fraction of the country's population of 1.3 billion.

Inoculations could begin in the next few weeks, according to the South China Morning Post, even before celebrations begin on October 1, 2009, to mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Some 200,000 people taking part in the anniversary celebrations will be the first to receive the vaccine; others considered to be high priority candidates are students aged five to 19, those with medical conditions (especially chronic respiratory and coronary diseases), and pregnant women. The inoculation program will also target medical staff and key workers, including police officers, soldiers, and quarantine officials.

"We have to be ready for the fact that there might be adverse effects," said WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl in an interview with the CNN television network. "No matter what vaccine you're looking at, sometimes there are extremely rare side effects. We don't even know what those are yet, but they will show up in one in every two or 10 million vaccinated."

According to the Chinese Ministry of Health, there have so far been 5,592 recorded cases of H1N1 in China's 31 inland provinces, but no one has yet died from the illness.

Related Links:
World Health Organization
Sinovac Biotech
Hualan Biological Engineering
Chinese State Food and Drug Administration