A staff member checks a COVID-19 inactivated vaccine product at a packaging plant of the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 25, 2020. China announced on Thursday that it had granted conditional marketing authorization for its first self-developed COVID-19 vaccine. The inactivated vaccine, which got the approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), is developed by the Beijing Biological Products Institute Co., Ltd. under the China National Biotec Group (CNBG), which is affiliated with Sinopharm. "This vaccine will be provided free of charge to all Chinese people," said Zeng Yixin, deputy head of the National Health Commission. (Xinhua/Zhang Yuwei)
