Report: China Considering Foreign Booster Shot to Improve Efficacy of Its Vaccines

China is reportedly considering using a foreign vaccine as a booster shot for people who have been fully inoculated with Chinese vaccines such as Sinovac and Sinopharm. 

According to Caixin, a respected Chinese financial magazine, drug regulators in China have completed an expert panel review of the booster vaccine jointly developed by China's Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical (Fosun Pharma) and German company BioNTech. The booster shot, Fosun-BioNTech COVID-19, is now in the administrative review stage.  The report came days after Thailand and Indonesia announced they would switch from doses made in China to Western vaccines.  For Beijing, which has been touting the effectiveness of its vaccines for months and donating and selling doses to low- and middle-income countries eager for protection in an effort often referred to as "vaccine diplomacy," the possibility of a booster shot may be seen as a blow.