National Committee Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Zhu Tao: Suggests establishing a full lifecycle immunization planning system

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Yan Shuo

Currently, China has established a relatively complete and mature national immunization program system, but for a long time, it has focused mainly on children, with adult vaccines mostly being non-immunization program vaccines. As population mobility intensifies, disease epidemic characteristics evolve, and aging accelerates, some traditional “child-exclusive infectious diseases” are seeing a resurgence in incidence among adolescents and adults.

Data shows that the influenza vaccination rate among adults aged 18-59 in China is only 0.52%, and for those over 60, it is less than 10%. Vaccination rates for key vaccines such as pneumococcal and shingles are even lower, posing urgent public health challenges.

Zhu Tao, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and Chief Scientific Officer of CanSino Biologics, suggested in an exclusive interview with 21st Century Business Herald that efforts should focus on integrating medical prevention to build a life-cycle immunization system.

Zhu Tao｜Provided by Interviewee

Proposal to Build a Life-Cycle Immunization System

Vaccination is a core measure to implement the “prevention first” health policy and is also an important support for strengthening immunity across the population and promoting the construction of a Healthy China. In recent years, China’s infant and young child vaccination support system has continued to improve, with vaccination rates steadily rising. However, the incidence of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases among adolescents and adults still requires attention.

Zhu Tao pointed out that there are three areas for improvement in promoting vaccination among adolescents and adults: First, China’s immunization program has long focused on infants and young children; the impact of adolescent and adult vaccination on infectious disease prevention and control should be highly valued.

Second, the coordination mechanism between medical and preventive services needs to be improved. The coverage rate of adult vaccination clinics in secondary and higher-level medical institutions is low, and the pilot work of vaccine prescription systems is hindered by inadequate incentives for medical staff. The capacity of grassroots vaccination services also needs enhancement.

Third, public awareness still needs to be strengthened. The phenomenon of “vaccine hesitancy” persists, and the public’s understanding of the necessity and timeliness of adult vaccination needs ongoing reinforcement.

The 2025 National Disease Prevention and Control Work Conference explicitly proposed to “continuously optimize the national immunization strategy.” Zhu Tao recommended that, first, a life-cycle immunization system should be established: taking the “14th Five-Year Plan” as an opportunity, promote the transformation of the immunization program from “focused coverage of infants and young children” to “dynamic protection for the entire population”; establish a monitoring-based dynamic assessment mechanism for adolescent and adult vaccination, and include high-risk groups such as school-aged youth and elderly with chronic diseases into local immunization plans based on disease burden and infection risk.

Second, deepen the integration of medical and preventive vaccination services: fully promote the vaccine prescription system in secondary and higher-level medical institutions, standardize it as a key performance indicator for adult vaccination clinics, and realize a closed-loop service of “medical visit - vaccine demand assessment - vaccination - follow-up”; break down data barriers between HIS systems and immunization information systems, and leverage the national health information platform for demand alerts and cross-institutional sharing of vaccination records; improve incentive mechanisms for medical personnel, incorporate vaccine consultation and guidance into performance evaluations, strengthen public health training, and enhance service professionalism.

Third, improve multi-channel support and education systems: optimize vaccine payment policies, expand the scope of vaccines covered by personal medical accounts, support commercial insurance products covering vaccine costs and adverse reactions; establish a long-term compensation mechanism for adverse vaccine reactions at the national level, with unified standards, assessment procedures, and payment timelines; implement a nationwide health literacy campaign on vaccines, conduct routine education through medical institutions, and use new media to deliver science popularization content precisely.

Looking ahead, Zhu Tao envisions a shift from “children-focused” to a comprehensive, life-cycle health management system for the entire population, establishing a continuous, dynamic immune barrier from infants to the elderly. This goal is feasible: China has built a relatively complete vaccine R&D, production, and vaccination system; the innovation capacity and capacity of the vaccine industry are continuously improving, providing solid technological and industrial support for population-wide immunization; public health awareness is rising, and the demand for life-cycle immunoprotection is increasingly urgent, laying a good social foundation for achieving this goal.

Multi-party Collaboration to Promote Medical-Prevention Integration

To truly implement a life-cycle immunization system, policy, technology, and industry must work together. Zhu Tao stated that policies should continue to promote the full implementation of the life-cycle immunization plan, integrated vaccination services, and multi-channel support and education systems.

On the technological front, driven by new productive forces, investment in vaccine innovation and R&D should be increased, focusing on multivalent and multi-dose vaccines, new delivery technologies, and cutting-edge vaccine varieties to improve safety, efficacy, and convenience.

In industry, efforts should be made to enhance the innovation capacity, quality control, and global supply ability of the vaccine sector, cultivating a number of internationally competitive vaccine companies, forming a complete “R&D - production - supply” industrial chain.

Zhu Tao emphasized that under the background of medical-prevention integration, establishing a sustainable industry cooperation mechanism is particularly critical. One key step is to build data interoperability, connecting diagnostic and treatment systems with immunization information systems; clarify the incentives and responsibilities of doctors in vaccine recommendation; strengthen scientific research cooperation between enterprises and public health systems, such as conducting real-world studies and multi-center clinical trials.

He believes that future industry opportunities mainly lie in three areas: first, the demand for adult vaccines will continue to grow, leading to a more balanced market structure; second, vaccines requiring higher innovation, such as multivalent and multi-dose vaccines, will see development opportunities; third, product innovation cycles are expected to shorten, and the efficiency of translating R&D results into products will improve.

However, companies must also strengthen original R&D capabilities, avoid low-level duplication, establish a more complete life-cycle product matrix, improve quality control and supply security, and enhance real-world data collection and evidence-based research. Future industry competition will increasingly depend on innovation strength.

Regarding the overall development of the industry, Zhu Tao pointed out that China’s vaccine industry is undergoing profound transformation, but also faces issues such as homogenization competition and price pressures. Some companies focus on low-technology, low-threshold products, with the core problem being a need to improve innovation capacity. At the same time, China’s biopharmaceutical innovation is trending toward more complex frontier technologies, diversified innovation entities, and internationalized regulatory standards, with review and approval systems aligning with global standards, creating conditions for domestically developed innovative vaccines to go global.

In recent years, Chinese vaccine companies have developed independent R&D capabilities in adenovirus vectors, mRNA, and combination vaccines, with some technologies already competitive internationally. Zhu Tao sees opportunities abroad in the rising demand for localized production in Belt and Road countries, as well as in the global south’s desire to establish independent vaccine supply systems. China’s manufacturing cost advantages and supply chain integration also provide significant benefits. Future overseas expansion will shift from “product sales” to “technology transfer + local production + cross-border research collaboration,” representing both business strategy and a global public health responsibility.

(Edited by Wen Jing)

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