BEIJING (Reuters) – China has found harmless traces of the new coronavirus in some COVID-19 inoculation sites potentially linked to the vaccine fluid, its disease control center said.
Samples taken from tables, walls, door handles and hallways at the sites tested positive for the virus, but were not infectious, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC of China) said in a statement late on Sunday.
The strokes had genomic sequences identical to the strain found in used vaccine bottles, but were different from the strains that are spreading, said the CDC of China.
The inactivated vaccines contained relatively complete fragments of the virus’s nucleic acid and were not infectious, he added.
Inactivated vaccines from Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech are being used in China’s vaccination schedule.
Benjamin Cowling, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Hong Kong, confirmed the possibility of contamination at the sites by the vaccine liquid and said that these traces of viruses “are not a cause for concern”.
Officials at contaminated vaccination sites had tested negative for the virus, said the CDC of China.
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Ryan Woo; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Stephen Coates)