China's First COVID-19 Vaccine Development Center Completed in Wuhan

China's first COVID-19 vaccine development lab and the only bio-safety level P3 sub-atmospheric pressure and ultra-clean production workshop in Central China was launched in Wuhan of Hubei province on July 1.

It is a COVID-19 prevention and livelihood project for the province and the entire country.

Located at Wuhan Institute of Biological Products Co., Ltd, the workshop covers 7,260 square meters and has two separate buildings, respectively for vaccine development and production.

It is expected to produce about 100 million doses of vaccine per year when it starts operation.

Constructed by China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC), the project was difficult to build in view of possible leakage of hazardous substances.

As the air would flow from areas with high pressure to those with low pressure, pressure of the workshop must be lower than that of the outside to guarantee harmful substances do not escape the lab.

To deal with the issue, builders used stainless steel plates for the buildings' maintenance structure and automated track welding, which ensured properly sealed joints.

All pipelines and wiring tubes were equipped with hermetic devices.

Moreover, the direct ventilation system used has high-level filtering, cleaning, heating, humidification and cooling functions to guarantee clean air and constant temperature and humidity.

The highly-efficient filtering system also ensures that only safe air is released to the outdoors.

(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)