China on Monday said it supports appeals made by developing countries for waiving intellectual property rights for Covid-19 vaccines as questions are raised on the equitable distribution of the shots globally.

Foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said as the largest developing country, China supports the appeal to waive intellectual property rights as long as it is conducive to the inoculation needs of developing countries.

China fully understands and supports the request of developing countries to exempt the intellectual property rights of Covid-19 vaccines, Zhao said at the foreign ministry conference on Monday.

India and South Africa are among the countries to have called for the lifting of patent rights for vaccines as a way of boosting manufacturing and ensuring global supply.

The US too under its President Joe Biden supports the idea, provided it’s done through the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

British and European Union officials have been skeptical about the usefulness of the move to remove patent protections for Covid-19 vaccines, while saying they are prepared to discuss it.MORE FROM THIS SECTION

“China supports the WTO’s proposal on IP exemptions for anti-epidemic materials such as the Covid vaccine to enter the text consultation stage,” Chinese commerce ministry spokesperson, Gao Feng said last week.

“China will work with all parties to actively participate in consultations and jointly promote a balanced and effective solution,” Gao said.

China, meanwhile, had administered more than 400 million Covid-19 vaccines until Sunday, state media reported Monday.

It took nine days for China to administer 100 million doses, taking the number above 400 million doses from 300 million doses.

“It took 17 days for the number of Covid-19 vaccines administered on the Chinese mainland to exceed 300 million doses from 200 million, and 26 days from 100 million to 200 million,” Chinese state media reported, quoting daily updates by the National Health Commission.

Meanwhile, China has begun to roll out the first single-dose Covid-19 vaccination in Shanghai after it was approved by the National Medical Products Administration.

The CanSinoBIO vaccine uses a modified common cold virus known as adenovirus type-5 (Ad5) to carry genetic material from the coronavirus protein into the body, and can be given to those aged 18 and above.

“Based on phase-3 clinical data, the efficacy of the CanSinoBIO vaccine in preventing symptomatic cases is 65.28%, and 90.07% in preventing severe disease 28 days after vaccination,” a state media report said.

Adverse reactions to the CanSinoBIO vaccine, according to the report, could include swelling at injection point, fever, fatigue, nausea, headaches and muscle pain, adding that these symptoms usually go away without medical intervention.