China's Covid-19 vaccine production to hit 3 billion

On Saturday, The National Health Commission official said, China will likely have produced 3 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines by the end of the year.

Zheng Zhongwei, who also heads a team coordinating the country’s Covid-19 vaccine development projects, made the comment during an industry event in the city of Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan province.

“In the second half of this year, we are fully capable of meeting our own demand,” Zheng said.

Though manufacturers are rapidly expanding production capacity, it is unclear if the output has risen as fast. Production tripled from Feb 1 through late March to 5 million doses a day, the government said its most recent update.

Leading vaccine manufacturer Sinovac Biotech said this month it had doubled its annual production capacity to 2 billion doses after completing its third production facility.