The figures came from Tian Baoguo, a senior official at China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, who spoke at a news conference. “Initial results show that they are safe,” he said.
The Chinese government’s confidence in its vaccines, four of which are in the last stage of clinical trials, could signal that it is ready to inoculate more people.
China is an outlier in vaccinating so many people before the conclusion of clinical trials. Officials have said the experimental use of the vaccines would not be part of trial data but would give them extra assurance that there are no safety issues. But scientists have warned that taking a vaccine that has not completed Phase 3 trials, the last stage of clinical trials before approval, carries health risks.
