The eastern Chinese city of Yiwu in Zhejiang province is offering walk-in Covid-19 vaccines to residents, local media reported.
The vaccine was being administered on Friday at a city health service centre, according to the The Paper website. Residents are charged 400 yuan (US$60) for two shots of the treatment, with an added service fee of 28 yuan, it said.
Most Chinese local governments only approve vaccines for emergency or for people who have approval, including medical workers, customs staff, diplomats and state-owned company employees who need to work abroad. Vaccinations for members of the public that are not considered essential workers or have emergency approval are a new development.
The vaccine was developed by Chinese company Sinovac Biotech and has not been fully tested or officially approved for marketing, according to Global Times. The centre told the Shanghai Law Journal that people need only queue at the facility to get inoculated, and because of limited quantity it is offered on a first-come, first-served basis.
This is probably the first time that local Chinese governments have introduced vaccines that haven’t officially reached the market, said Shanghai-based immunologist and vaccine expert Tao Lina, who added that Zhejiang is an ideal place for a pilot of the vaccination because of relatively high health consciousness among residents in the province.