China added a new move to its international vaccine race on Friday (March 12), saying foreigners who want to enter the mainland from Hong Kong can apply for a Chinese visa with less paperwork if they get a Chinese-made vaccine.
The news comes from a new visa notice issued Friday by the Office of the Commissioner of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong. The notice said that starting March 15, the office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong will offer a new facility to foreign visa applicants who have received the Chinese-made vaccine: foreigners and Family members traveling to mainland China to work and produce in various fields will only be required to provide the documents needed before the new coronary pandemic.
The news from the Chinese Foreign Ministry comes just after the United States, Japan, India and Australia issued a joint statement saying that the countries in the quadrilateral talks would provide vaccines to more countries. The four countries said they would help fund India to be able to complete production of at least 1 billion doses of the new crown vaccine within a year.
China wants to boost the international appeal of its vaccine, but scientists and foreign governments are urging Chinese vaccine makers to be more transparent about their clinical trial data. China had supplied vaccines to 69 countries by the end of February and had begun commercial exports of vaccines to 28 countries, said Guo Weimin, a spokesman for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.
China’s state-run media also launched a disinformation campaign questioning the safety of the Modena and Pfizer vaccines and promoting the Chinese vaccine as a better choice, according to the New York Times.
The new Chinese-made Crown vaccine has not yet been approved by regulatory agencies in most Western countries. Similarly, China has not approved foreign vaccines to be manufactured or sent within its borders.
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