China Releases Criteria For Approving COVID-19 Vaccines; Experts Agree to It!

As countries are doing their best in producing COVID-19 vaccine, country's drug regulator has come up with a draft document released by the Chinese Centre for Drug Evaluation (CCDE). 

As per South China Morning Post report, the document states that COVID-19 vaccines must have an efficacy rate of 50 percent and provide at least six months’ immunity if they are to be approved for use in China. 

The draft also claims that 50 percent is the minimum efficacy rate allowable while 70 percent is the target. The document further read that the regulator would consider granting emergency use of vaccines that have not yet completed their final phase of clinical trials, Morning Post further reported. 

With countries rushing to produce a vaccine for COVID-19, China stands first among the forerunners in the race, with four companies in final testing. Currently, a total of 29 products are undergoing clinical trials around the world, among which seven are in the final stage.

Getting into details about the draft, China’s criteria for a minimum of 50 percent efficacy means the vaccine would protect half of those injected with it.This will set a  benchmark set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

However, in April 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) in a document said that it hoped Covid-19 vaccines would protect recipients for a year; it is a target that China is also seeking, but many scientists are concerned that might not be achievable. 

Currently, four Chinese vaccine candidates are undergoing clinical trials in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.