China's COVID-19 vaccine output to hit 3 billion by year-end: Official

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

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.

The China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) also has a combined annual production capacity of at least 1.1 billion for two separate vaccines. The company has said it aims to raise capacity to 3 billion but has not specified a timeframe.

Sinopharm said on Friday that it will be able to supply 100 million COVID-19 vaccines a month starting from April.

The Chinese government recently said that the production of COVID-19 vaccines in the country tripled from February 1 through late March to 5 million doses a day, as reported by Reuters. Vaccine manufacturers in China have also increased their production capacity. Sinovac Biotech, leading coronavirus vaccine manufacturer in the country, had said that it had doubled its annual production capacity to 2 billion doses after completing its third production facility. China: Shanghai to Offer COVID-19 Vaccines for Foreign Residents.

Another vaccine maker, the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) has a combined annual production capacity of at least 1.1 Billion for two separate vaccines. As per report, Sinopharm recently said that it will be able to supply 100 million COVID-19 vaccines a month starting from April.