Fu did not give the exact figures for the effectiveness of the vaccine at a press conference held in Chengdu on Saturday. It only stated that they did not provide as much protection as was expected. So far, China has developed four vaccines.

“Our current vaccines are not very effective. We are now studying steps to increase that.” Perhaps there are more options in the game to make this happen: the third dose; a longer time interval between doses; vaccine combinations from several manufacturers.

“Maybe also using different technical lines,” added Cao Fu, and although he did not go into detail, he mentioned the possibility that China could pursue an mRNA strategy, among other things.

He is still being vaccinated with the dead virus in China. It does not cause disease, but the body’s immune system responds to it and makes antibodies to it. For example, Pfizer / BioNTech vaccines operate on the basis of mRNA. This vaccine encodes the genetic information for SARS-CoV-2, and the vaccine mainly trains the immune system to properly respond to the virus.

There is no flexible vaccine available for vaccination yet in China, but some companies are already working on it. For example, Walvax and Suzhou A-po-ken are preparing for the final phase of clinical trials.

“The Chinese mRNA vaccine will definitely be available by the end of the year,” said Feng Tutia of the China Vaccine Association South China Morning Post.

Fu softened his words shortly thereafter the next day in an interview with the Chinese state-run Global Times. “The level of protection for all vaccines in the world is sometimes higher, sometimes less. The daily quoted the head of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that how to increase their effectiveness is a question that all scientists in the world ask.”

China has already vaccinated more than 160 million doses of its vaccines. Debates have continued over its effectiveness since its launch. For example, the Sinovac vaccine was only 50.4% effective in clinical trials in Brazil. But Turkey and Indonesia reported 65 to 91 percent of the same vaccine.

In China, it is currently only vaccinated with local vaccines. In addition to Sinopharm and Sinovac, CanSinoBIO and the Wuchan Institute for Biological Products were approved in February.