Second phase of CoronaVac production starts next month
Print Edition
About 500 million doses of the CoronaVac vaccine solutions developed by the Beijing-based Sinovac Life Sciences Co Ltd can be produced annually in the southern suburbs of the capital city.
“The production line for the second phase of our vaccine solutions will be put into operation in February this year, with a projected annual production capacity of more than 1 billion doses,” said Yin Weidong, CEO of Sinovac Biotech Ltd, which has a majority stake in the vaccine producer.
On December 15, 2020, China officially launched the COVID-19 vaccination program for the winter-spring period targeting a number of key groups, including those engaged in handling imported cold-chain products, customs officers, medical workers, and people working in the public transport sector and fresh markets.
Currently, over 10 million doses have been administered in China, according to the country’s health authorities.
Since the company’s vaccine workshops came on stream in August 2020, the staff along with the machines have been working round the clock to ensure domestic jab supply and help uphold China’s commitment to making its self-developed vaccines a global public good, said Yin.
From cell culture to packaging, a jab can be produced in just 48 days. Now the company churns out about 400,000 doses a day for domestic needs.
In the company’s workshops, automation equipment is visible everywhere, and it’s all for the safety of workers as it helps minimize direct human contact with the vaccine ingredients.
Inactivated COVID-19 virus is first purified and tested before it goes through proportioning into a semi-finished product.
In the filling workshop, staff equipped with specialized rubber gloves inspect the jabs and check for foreign matter in the pharmaceutical containers off the production line.
Stringent sampling inspection is also conducted in the laboratories to ensure the jabs are fit for use.
“Our vaccine has very good stability as it met the national quality criteria after being kept at 25 degrees Celsius for 42 days or 37 degrees Celsius for 21 days,” Yin said, adding that it is speculated that the jabs can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius for a very long time and the current expiry date is three years.
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