China Looking at Giving Students Vaccines Still Being Tested
- Expansion of emergency use remit to students is unprecedented
- Speed of race for Covid-19 vaccine has raised safety concerns
The coronavirus vaccine candidate from China National Biotec Group (CNBG).
Photographer: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
One of China’s leading vaccine developers is working on a plan to inoculate students going overseas with Covid-19 shots that are yet to get regulatory approval, according to people familiar with the matter, as the country pushes scientific boundaries in the race for a viable immunization.
China National Biotec Group Co., or CNBG, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinopharm Group Co., is in talks with the Chinese government about giving students headed abroad to study its experimental vaccines, said the people, who asked not to be identified as they’re not authorized to speak publicly. Various government agencies are still working on the plan and no final decision has been made, the people said.