We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

HospiMedica

Download Mobile App
Recent News AI Critical Care Surgical Techniques Patient Care Health IT Point of Care Business Focus

China Doses Thousands with Unproven COVID-19 Vaccines Having Potentially Harmful Side Effects

By HospiMedica International staff writers
Posted on 29 Sep 2020
Print article
Image: CoronaVac (Photo courtesy of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.)
Image: CoronaVac (Photo courtesy of Sinovac Biotech Ltd.)
China has administered its unproven COVID-19 vaccines to drug company workers, government officials and others before the conclusion of Phase 3 trials, worrying experts about their potential ill effects.

A report by The New York Times reveals that Chinese officials are inoculating tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people with unproven COVID-19 vaccines outside the traditional testing process. In July, China approved three inactivated vaccines for emergency use to vaccinate high-risk groups such as medical staff. Two inactivated COVID-19 vaccines have been developed by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG) affiliated to the China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm Beijing, China). The third COVID-19 vaccine named CoronaVac is from Sinovac Biotech Ltd. (Beijing, China). Another Chinese firm, CanSino Biologics Inc. (Tianjin, China), has begun conducting Phase 3 trials of its COVID-19 vaccine in Saudi Arabia, after completing the first two phases of the human trials in China.

China first began dosing workers at state-owned companies, followed by government officials and vaccine company staff. Chinese officials now plan to inoculate teachers, supermarket employees and people traveling to risky areas abroad with the unproven COVID-19 vaccines. The Chinese government could also consider expanding the scope of people qualified for emergency use and add those who work in markets, transportation and the service industry. However, global experts are worried as no other country has injected people with unproven vaccines outside the usual drug trial process on such a huge scale, states The New York Times report. The unproven vaccines could not only have harmful side effects, but also create a false sense of security and encourage behavior that could result in even more infections. Flawed vaccines can create serious health problems. Broad inoculation campaigns such as these also increase the risk of receiving multiple vaccines, which could adversely impact the immune response.

“It may be three to six months before we get Phase 3 trial results - it’s not that long to wait,” Dr. Raina MacIntyre, who heads the biosecurity program at the Kirby Institute of the University of New South Wales, told The New York Times. “You are potentially muddying the waters for the time when we do have Phase 3 trial data for the best possible vaccine.”

Related Links:
Sinovac Biotech Ltd.
China National Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd.
CanSino Biologics Inc.


Gold Member
Real-Time Diagnostics Onscreen Viewer
GEMweb Live
Flocked Fiber Swabs
Puritan® patented HydraFlock®
New
Platelet Concentration System
GPS III
New
3T MRI Scanner
MAGNETOM Cima.X

Print article
Radcal

Channels

Critical Care

view channel
mage: The electroceutical epidermal patch is designed to inhibit bacterial growth (Photo courtesy of Saehyun Kim/University of Chicago)

Cutting-Edge Bioelectronic Device Offers Drug-Free Approach to Managing Bacterial Infections

Antibiotic-resistant infections pose an increasing threat to patient safety and healthcare systems worldwide. Recent estimates indicate that drug-resistant infections may rise by 70% by 2050, highlighting... Read more

Surgical Techniques

view channel
Image: Conceptual schematic showing microgrippers (µ-grippers) operating as biopsy tools in the upper urinary tract (Photo courtesy of Wangqu Liu, Yan Wan/Gracias Lab, Johns Hopkins University)

Microgrippers For Miniature Biopsies to Create New Cancer Diagnostic Screening Paradigm

The standard diagnosis of upper urinary tract cancers typically involves the removal of suspicious tissue using forceps, a procedure that is technically challenging and samples only a single region of the organ.... Read more

Patient Care

view channel
Image: The portable biosensor platform uses printed electrochemical sensors for the rapid, selective detection of Staphylococcus aureus (Photo courtesy of AIMPLAS)

Portable Biosensor Platform to Reduce Hospital-Acquired Infections

Approximately 4 million patients in the European Union acquire healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) or nosocomial infections each year, with around 37,000 deaths directly resulting from these infections,... Read more

Health IT

view channel
Image: First ever institution-specific model provides significant performance advantage over current population-derived models (Photo courtesy of Mount Sinai)

Machine Learning Model Improves Mortality Risk Prediction for Cardiac Surgery Patients

Machine learning algorithms have been deployed to create predictive models in various medical fields, with some demonstrating improved outcomes compared to their standard-of-care counterparts.... Read more

Point of Care

view channel
Image: The acoustic pipette uses sound waves to test for biomarkers in blood (Photo courtesy of Patrick Campbell/CU Boulder)

Handheld, Sound-Based Diagnostic System Delivers Bedside Blood Test Results in An Hour

Patients who go to a doctor for a blood test often have to contend with a needle and syringe, followed by a long wait—sometimes hours or even days—for lab results. Scientists have been working hard to... Read more