RESIDENTS in Beijing can start making appointments for an inhalable COVID booster made by CanSino Biologics, domestic media reported Thursday, while those in Tianjin can now get it as the Chinese pharmaceutical firm distributes more supplies.

CanSino’s vaccine, called Convidecia Air, is an aerosol version of an inactive shot and was approved as an emergency-use booster by Chinese health authorities in September.

Shanghai and 13 cities in the eastern province of Jiangsu have already introduced the CanSino vaccine as a booster, the company said.

Appointments for the vaccine in Beijing can be booked on a mobile phone app for residents of one district, Beijing Business Daily reported Thursday.

Regarding the efficacy of its vaccine, Hong Kong and Shanghai-listed CanSino said in a statement Wednesday that studies showed “using Convidecia Air as a heterologous booster generated much stronger immune responses than those induced by a homologous inactivated vaccine booster.”

The vaccine are available in Tianjin from Thursday, it said.

Increasing the uptake of vaccinations is vital for China, which is sticking resolutely to its strict zero-COVID policy that aims to prevent large-scale outbreaks and fatalities, especially among the elderly.

According to Chinese government data, more than 90% of its population has been vaccinated.

China has relied on domestically produced, inactivated shots and has yet to import, or introduce its own version of an mRNA vaccine.        (SD-Agencies)