The scene of the meeting

On 23 October 2020, "the Kickoff Meeting of Vaccine Regulation and the Construction of a Scientific Think Tank", funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with Zhu Xufeng, Professor and Associate Dean of the School of Public Policy & Management (SPPM) of Tsinghua University, and Executive Director of the TUSDG, as the subject leader, was successfully held at the SPPM of Tsinghua University.

Peng Zongchao, Professor and Secretary of the Party Committee of SPPM of Tsinghua University; Wang Chenguang, Professor and former Dean of School of Law of Tsinghua University; Shen Qunhong, Associate Professor of SPPM of Tsinghua University; Mu Ling, Director of the China Case Center for Public Policy and Management (CCCPPM) of SPPM; Yu Hanzhi, Researcher and Doctoral Supervisor of School of Public Affairs of Zhejiang University; Chen Yuan, Li Guang, and Huan Shitong, Senior Project Officers of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Beijing Office and Hu Yinglian, Professor of the Party School of the CPC Central Committee (National School of Administration), who are members of the project team, attended the opening meeting of the project. The meeting was chaired by Professor Zhu Xufeng and was conducted in a combination of online and offline methods.

Speech by Zhu Xufeng

First of all, as the leader of this topic, Professor Zhu Xufeng thanked all the participating experts for their support and concern for this topic. He stressed that the Vaccine Administration Law of the People's Republic of China came into force on 1 December 2019, and the regulation and use of vaccines entered a new stage of standardisation. In the current critical period when new vaccines are being developed and put into use, it is of great practical significance to conduct theoretical research and mechanism construction for scientific and systematic supervision, management and use of vaccines with controllable risks.

Speech by Peng Zongchao

Professor Peng Zongchao delivered a speech on behalf of the SPPM and thanked the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for its generous support of this topic. He pointed out that vaccines are critical to the health and well-being of all mankind and public health safety, and are particularly significant in major public health emergencies.

Speech by Chen Yuan 

Chen Yuan introduced the background of this topic. She mentioned that in the current critical period of China's COVID-19 vaccine research and development, it is our common endeavour to carry out systematic and in-depth research, put forward better policy recommendations, and help China to produce more high-quality affordable pharmaceutical products and make more contributions to global health.

Report by Hu Yinglian

Subsequently, Prof Hu Yinglian, as a member of the group, reported the research concept of this topic on behalf of the group. He emphasized that the research of this topic aims to strengthen the construction of the national ecosystem of vaccine innovation, focus on industrial development and regulatory system construction, so that China can become a responsible and high-quality vaccine producer that meets global standards.

Comment by Wang Chenguang

In the expert commentary session, Professor Wang Chenguang thought that the study should consider focusing on the pre-regulation of vaccines. He said that vaccines are becoming more and more dependent on regulatory mechanisms, and that vaccines going global as a global public good will face the challenge of coordination between multiple sectors. Whether vaccines are commodities or public goods involves interdisciplinary issues such as international trade and international politics.

Comment by Shen Qunhong

Associate Professor Shen Qunhong said that there should be a difference in regulatory methods and corresponding research ideas between vaccines and general drugs, and that general vaccines and vaccines for emergency use need to be treated differently and cannot be generalised. In vaccine governance, risk communication and risk monitoring should be done well, so that the public can have a more rational and scientific response to abnormal reactions in vaccination.

Review by Mu Ling

Mu Ling believes that vaccine regulatory research needs to be further categorized and refined, and suggests selecting key vaccines for research, for example, focusing on the production, regulation and use of COVID-19 vaccines to carry out whole-process, whole-chain and whole-cycle case studies.

Online Review by Yu Hanzhi

Yu Hanzhi suggests, firstly, to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of the current global mechanism for the use of the three types of vaccines, to consider issues such as the attribution of rights and responsibilities for abnormal reactions, and to form a policy proposal for the formation of a good coordination mechanism between departments; secondly, it is expected that the group will form a brief note on the progress of China's current vaccine research and development in a short time, in order to alleviate the public's hesitancy in the use of vaccines, and to reshape the public's confidence.

Group photo of guests

This kickoff meeting is jointly organized by the TUSDG and the CCCPPM, which lays a solid foundation for further analyzing the research issues, defining the key research directions and promoting the formation of research results with more theoretical value and practical significance.