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WHO China chief gives vote of trust to Chinese vaccine

By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-28 09:36

The World Health Organization's representative in China hopes to give the country's H1N1 vaccine a shot in the arm.

That is, by receiving one.

Michael O'Leary said yesterday the Chinese-made vaccine has been proven safe and effective and he is willing to roll up his own sleeve.

"When it's available to me, I would not hesitate to get the vaccine made by China," he told China Daily yesterday.

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Since late September, China has vaccinated more than 300,000 people on the mainland against H1N1 and is now scaling up the free program, which will be available nationwide.

"The H1N1 vaccine is one of the safest vaccines being used," he said. "Serious adverse reactions would be extremely rare if at all, and to date, from the data available, the vaccine is safe and effective."

However, he also pointed out that no vaccine is 100 percent safe, and there is the potential of bad side effects from getting the jab.

"Nearly all of the adverse reactions detected so far worldwide were mild and temporary," he added.

Weighing the risk of the vaccine against that of the disease, the WHO highly recommends the vaccination, he stressed.

However, the Chinese public remains wary.

An ongoing survey by China Daily and sohu.com showed that among 2,800 respondents, nearly 55 percent didn't plan to be vaccinated with roughly 66 percent doubting its safety and quality.

The Chinese mainland has reported more than 35,000 H1N1 cases, with three deaths.

Apart from a national vaccination program, health workers are vaccinating Chinese Muslims who will make their pilgrimage to Mecca in the coming days.

The voluntary and free inoculation is expected to cover all of China's 12,700 pilgrims, according to the China Islamic Association.

Health Minister Chen Zhu has vowed to vaccinate 5 percent of the nation's 1.3 billion population by the end of the year.

Vaccinations are being given on a priority basis.