China: Over 60,000 People Have Received COVID-19 Vaccine

BEIJING, CHINA (KYMA/KECY) - China said that around 60,000 people have received a COVID-19 vaccine in a series of trials. According to the Ministry of Science and Technology, serious adverse reactions haven't been reported in those that participated in the testing.

Since July, the country has been vaccinating workers in high-risk professions in an emergency program.

In the Chinese city of Yiwu, residents are offered an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to select members of the public. The supply is limited and demand is apparently very high. The cost? About $60 for two doses.

This is one of the first public locations where China's rolled out an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. They began injecting people over the weekend.

China’s been trying to push past the early allegations of mishandling, cover-ups, and silencing of whistleblowers surrounding the initial outbreak in Wuhan.

And instead - officials there have highlighted their swift and seemingly successfully responses to many cluster outbreaks. The most recent - in Qingdao last week - following a major travel holiday.

A handful of confirmed cases surfaced, health officials began strict contract tracing and tested more than 10 million people in less than a week. And life - it seems - quickly returned to near normal again.

At least 4 of the 13 vaccines being produced in China have entered Phase 3 trials.

The government expects to produce 610-million doses of the vaccine annually and says that production will be expanded.