First foreign COVID vaccines head to China from Germany
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Excerpt
- The vaccines are on the way from China
- Berlin encourages increased usage, German citizens are encouraged to get vaccinated
- Batches of vaccines to release after Scholz visit to China
- There is increased spike in infections hence this batch was introduced
Article Summary
Berlin sent its first batch of BioNTech (22UAy.DE) COVID-19 vaccines to China for German expatriates, about 20,000 vaccines were available. This shipment was allowed after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit in Beijing last month, with the German leader encouraging Beijing to allow the vaccines to be made available to Chinese citizens too.
There was a letter sent to German Citizens in China, and the German government mentioned that they would be offering basic immunisations and booster shots of vaccines approved for use in the European Union for free to anyone above 12 years of age. Family members of other nationalities are not allowed to. Vaccinations for children below the age of 12 will be introduced at a later stage.
BioNTech’s spokesperson also mentioned that they are working on introducing the vaccinations to foreigners other than Germans. The vaccines will be shipped to German Companies in China, and other countries.
Because of this agreement, the Chinese citizens will be able to have access to China’s SinoVac (SVA.O). The vaccine has not been approved by Europe’s drug regulator, but the World Health Organization has approved its use. Beijing has insisted on using domestically produced vaccines, which might cause more time and efforts to be wasted, as they are breaking down their strict “zero-COVID” regime of lockdowns, which has caused a surge of cases that caught an unprepared healthcare system.
Giving German expats access to the BioNTech vaccinations is a big gesture to Berlin, which reflects Beijing’s initiative to strengthen ties with them, after years of trade and climate tensions.
Source: Reuters
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