Foreign news

China approves emergency usage of COVID-19 vaccines, official says

Published

5 years ago

August 25, 2020

A Chinese health official Saturday confirmed the country authorized emergency usage of COVID-19 vaccines developed by some select domestic companies on July 22.

“We’ve drawn up a series of plan packages, including medical consent forms, side-effects monitoring plans, rescuing plans, compensation plans, to make sure the emergency use is well regulated and monitored,” Zheng Zhongwei, head of China’s coronavirus vaccine development task force told CCTV.

An emergency use authorization, which is based on Chinese vaccine management law, allows unapproved vaccine candidates to be used among people who are at high risk of getting infected on a limited period.

By first inoculating the special groups, like frontline medical workers and civil servants, the move is to ensure that a city can keep normal functions when a health crisis strikes, the law stated.

Similar authorizations have been legalized in many countries. For example, U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows unapproved medical products to be used in an emergency to diagnose, treat or prevent life-threatening disease or conditions.

The national agency has used several emergency use authorizations since the coronavirus outbreak as a way to get many diagnostic tests more quickly to the market than the normal procedures.

“We are planning to scale up the inoculating group to better prepare for a possible next wave in autumn and winter,” Zheng added.

A new coronavirus vaccine cultivated within insect cells by West China Hospital of Sichuan University in Chengdu has been approved for human trial, according to local government on Saturday.

Using insect cells to grow proteins for the coronavirus vaccine – a first in China – could speed up large-scale production, the Chengdu city government said in a notice on its official WeChat account.

Animal tests have shown promising results in preventing coronavirus infection, the notice said, and no obvious side effects have found.

According to China’s National Medical Products Administration, at least eight potential coronavirus vaccines have entered different stages of clinical trials.

In an interview with CCTV, Yang Xiaoming, chief scientist of China’s vaccine development and CEO of China National Biotec Group (CNBG) said they’ve signed agreements with many countries on inactivated vaccine clinical trials over the past few months.

“Over 20,000 people has been vaccinated,” Yang added, “Vaccine safety is well guaranteed; the effectiveness is being closely monitored.”

The company announced on late Friday Argentina joined Peru, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in approving Phase 3 clinical trials for their inactivated coronavirus vaccine.

The experimental vaccine by CNBG received approval from the UAE in June for a Phase 3 trial and has since recruited 15,000 volunteers, according to the company.

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Foreign news

NTAC Hails Tinubu; Volunteers Ready to Positively Impact Nigerians

Published

2 days ago

June 4, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The Nigerian Technical Aid Corps (NTAC) has commended President Bola Tinubu for funding the Technical Aid Corps (TAC) Scheme.

The Director General (DG) of NTAC , Dr Yusuf Yakub, made the commendation during a ceremony to receive five returning TAC volunteers from Zanzibar, Tanzania on Tuesday in Abuja.
The returning volunteers also expressed readiness to impact knowledge gained from participating in the programme on Nigerians.

TAC is a mechanism for Nigeria’s foreign aid and technical assistance to African, Caribbean and Pacific countries through the use of Nigeria’s abundant trained manpower.

Yakub lauded Tinubu’s visionary leadership and steadfast support for the TAC Scheme.

Welcoming the volunteers who had discharged themselves as worthy ambassadors in Zanzibar, the D-G thanked them for their patriotism, dedication to service and for making Nigeria proud on the international arena.

The NTAC boss highlighted the importance of knowledge-sharing, while announcing that certificates of completion will be presented to the volunteers in line with the noble objectives of the service.

He also emphasised the volunteers’ crucial role in passing on the skills and experiences gained in Zanzibar.

He expressed optimism that their efforts would positively impact the lives of Nigerians across the country and shape the expectations and service-delivery of future prospective volunteers.

Earlier speaking, Amb. Zakari Usman, the Director of Programmes for NTAC, expressed gratitude to the D-G for his unwavering support and provision for the volunteers throughout their service period.
He said that the volunteers had so delivered on the mandate of the agency that citizens of Zanzibar did not want them to leave their country.
Popoola Adegoke, the Team Lead and a Mathematics Instructor for the batch of returning volunteers, was full of gratitude to the Federal Government for providing them the opportunity to participate in the scheme.

Adegoke said that Nigeria, was well blessed and had the abundance of both human and natural resources to contribute meaningfully to the development of many countries of the world.

He said that the need to continue the TAC Scheme was not negotiable, owing to its high impact and results.

Mohammed Salisu, a Physicist, said that the experience had broadened his horizon as his orientation during the last 24 months in Zanzibar, especially on the cultural exchange.

He lauded the government for the scheme, saying that Nigeria is seen and perceived to be higher in all ranking, especially in the standard of living and educational system.

He also appealed to the government to sustain the scheme to close the gaps both the educational and professional systems in the African, Caribbean and the Pacific Countries.
NAN

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