China's regulators and spin doctors rush to remedy a comment from the nation’s top infectious disease official about the “not high” protection rate for its COVID-19 vaccines, amid debate over speedy development using mature technologies and doubts over protection in seniors. A slow roll-out is already presenting challenges to meeting an official 40% target.

Facing a slow roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, China is implementing more promotional measures and increasing the pressure on the public to get inoculated. Vaccine diplomacy efforts meanwhile are facing challenges.

Over 50 countries around the world are now receiving COVID-19 vaccine deliveries from China, totaling 3.3 million doses and counting so far. This Scrip infographic shows their locations, quantity of supplies and the developers involved.

In what could be a blow to some aspiring developers eyeing the nascent but growing biosimilars market in China, new rules lay out when extrapolation of approved indications of reference biologics will be allowed, meaning this will not be automatic.