Apparently months after his actual detention, news has finally surfaced that a key researcher behind China's rapid development of a homegrown COVID-19 vaccine is said to have "severely violated" Communist Party rules and regulations and is the subject of a probe for possible corruption.

China's CSPC Pharmaceutical Group surprises by announcing investigator-initiated trial results for SYS6006, its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate against the Omicron variant.

Amid surging infections in several cities including Wuhan, China is urging vaccination among unvaccinated people, but a booster shot may be needed soon to address a low efficacy among Chinese vaccines, some say.

China, Iran and especially Russia have launched campaigns aimed at undermining confidence in Western vaccines, especially Pfizer’s, according to two reports.