(Yicai Global) Dec. 3 -- China will allow the emergency use of Covid-19 vaccines for high-risk groups such as port workers and front-line supervisors this year as part of epidemic control measures for the winter, Vice Premier Sun Chunlan said yesterday, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Workers in the imported frozen foods sector have become a high-risk group following recent reports of the coronavirus being discovered on imported food packaging. Cases in the cities of Dalian, Qingdao and Tianjin have shown that cold chain food handlers can be infected with the virus if they are not properly protected, Xinhua said.

China has 14 experimental vaccines in clinical trials, with five in Phase III. The government has already given emergency use licenses to inactivated vaccines from China National Biotech Group and Sinovac Biotech.

Emergency use refers to the approved medical and preventive use of a new vaccine or drug for a small group of people before they have been approved for marketing.

China National Biotech has finished building coronavirus vaccine plants in Beijing and Wuhan with production capacity that will reach 1 billion doses next year. This will ensure a safe and sufficient vaccine supply, according to Liu Jingzhen, chairman of parent company China National Pharmaceutical Group.

Editor: Tom Litting