Photo: CFP

Beijing has begun inoculating China's first multivalent vaccine that can provide broad spectrum protection against COVID variants, developed by Chinese vaccine producer Sinocelltech with clinical research data showing that it has the advantages in safety and immunity persistence. 

At the beginning of December 2022, Sinocelltech's COVID recombinant protein bivalent vaccine was approved for emergency use, and has since been recommended by the country's second booster for enhanced immunization plan, according to media reports. 

Sinocelltech's clinical trials both at home and abroad have demonstrated that the vaccine is highly effective against existing omicron strains BA.1 and BA.5, and has the potential to work against future variants too, the firm was quoted as saying in previous media reports. 

Some hospitals in Beijing have already received the vaccine, for example, in Yizhuang area, southeast suburb of the capital city, local residents can be inoculated with Sinocelltech's bivalent vaccine, in addition to the previous four types of COVID vaccines. 

The vaccine can be stored stably at room temperature for more than six months, making it easy to transport to rural areas and underdeveloped regions and countries, Xie Liangzhi, who chairs Beijing-based Sinocelltech Group, was quoted as saying in media reports. It also conveys a great significance in preventing infection of mutant strains and reducing the rate of severe illness and mortality. 

China has been accelerating mass vaccination as a means of combatting COVID, especially enhancing booster shots - a major factor that helped cities and provinces to get through the latest infection waves. As of February 2, a total of 1.3 billion people had been vaccinated across the country and among them 1.28 billion had completed a two-dose inoculation. 

Gao Fu, former head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was quoted as saying in media reports in January that vaccines against the mutant strains of COVID-19 should be approved for use as soon as possible.

Accelerating the inoculation of vaccines among elderly people is also seen as a factor of lowering death rates. 

In-hospital COVID-19 related deaths surpassed 80,000 on the Chinese mainland from December 8 in 2022 to February 9 this year, according to China's CDC. It revealed that new infections and fatalities have both been declining in 2023, local media reported on Wednesday. 

According to the data collected from December 1, 2022 to February 6, the prevalent strains in China are BA.5.2.48 nd BF.7.14, all of which were mutants of Omicron with a total of 31 evolutionary branches. 

Global Times