China announced on Thursday that it approved its first homegrown anti-Covid-19 vaccine for public use. This approval comes after state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm announced that the vaccine is 79% efficient, CNN reports. During a press conference held, Thursday, vice-minister of China's National Health Commission said that the Sinopharm vaccine will be provided free of charge to Chinese citizens. «Vaccine is a public good by its nature, and the price may vary based on the scale of use, but an important premise is that it will be provided to the public for free», Zeng said. Indeed, the country plans to «inoculate 50 million people with domestic Covid-19 vaccines ahead of February's Lunar New Year celebrations». Sinopharm also submitted to Chinese authorities its second vaccine developed with Wuhan University. A vaccine, ordered by Morocco, which is still awaiting the green light in China.
