A Chinese drug developer is offering an experimental coronavirus vaccine to students going abroad in a strategy that health experts say raises safety and ethical concerns.

China National Biotech Group has two vaccine candidates out of five from Chinese developers that are in the final stages of clinical trials. They are part of a global race to develop a vaccine that, if they are successful, offers the fledgling Chinese industry the potential for prestige and worldwide sales.

CNBG's vaccine has been given to medical workers and employees of Chinese companies being sent abroad under an emergency authorization for people in high-risk categories.

Now, CNBG said it will provide the vaccine for free to Chinese students who study abroad.

More than 168,000 people signed up to receive the vaccine via an online survey, and more than 91,000 are being considered, CNBG said on its website. That page had been removed by Tuesday.

A student who is due to go to Britain said she signed up via the online link after classmates said they received the vaccine.

The student, who would give only her English name, Sally, said she started to hear in September that the vaccine was available to people like her. She said other students said she might need to travel to Beijing, the national capital, or Wuhan, where the outbreak emerged in December, to receive the vaccine.

The ruling Communist Party declared victory over the outbreak in March following anti-virus measures that isolated cities with a total of 60 million people. The country has reported 4,634 deaths and 85,622 confirmed cases.

Follow-up needed

If the vaccine works, it might help protect students going to Europe or the United States, where the pandemic is still raging, medical experts said. But they said developers need to make clear it is unproven and keep track of what happens to people who receive it.

If the vaccine does not work, then "this is giving people a false sense of security," said Sridhar Venkatapuram, a specialist in bioethics at King's College London's Global Health Institute.

Chinese developers have announced plans to test vaccines in Indonesia, Morocco and other countries. But their approach also has prompted concern.

Papua New Guinea turned back a flight carrying 180 Chinese mine workers in August after they received a vaccine in a possible unauthorized trial. The Papuan government demanded an explanation from Beijing.

"The manufacturer has an obligation to obtain follow-up information" from people who receive a vaccine, K. Arnold Chan, a National Taiwan University expert on drug regulation, said in an email.

Failing to do that "is irresponsible and not compliant with international standards," he wrote.

It was unclear whether Chinese students were being offered the CNBG vaccine under the same emergency authorization.

The agency that oversees drug and vaccine approvals, the National Medical Products Administration, did not respond to questions sent by fax. CNBG did not respond to a request for comment.

Vaccine recipients

A business news website named Star Market Daily reported Monday that anyone could sign up on CNBG's webpage to receive the vaccine. It said students who plan to study overseas would get priority.

"Currently, it seems Chinese students going abroad have a strong desire to take the vaccine," a CNBG employee was quoted as saying by state-owned newspaper, The Paper, based on the survey results in September.

However, a separate report by the Health Times, another state-owned newspaper, cited unidentified sources in the company as denying anyone could sign up to receive a vaccine in Beijing or Wuhan.

The final stage of clinical trials, conducted on larger groups, is used to find any rare side effects and study the effectiveness of a treatment. The first and second stage trials are meant to determine whether a vaccine or treatment is safe.

CNBG has given the vaccine to 350,000 people outside its clinical trials, a company executive said in September. The trials have about 40,000 people enrolled.

More than 600,000 Chinese students studied abroad before the pandemic, according to Ministry of Education figures. They make up a large share of the foreign student body in the United States, Britain, Australia and some other countries.

Western universities are "not protecting their students," Venkatapuram said. "The company is basically offering its citizens protection going outside of China, which in essence is what any country would ideally be doing."

The administration of President Donald Trump said on Monday it will review Columbia University's federal contracts and grants over allegations of antisemitism, which it says the educational institution has shown inaction in tackling.

Rights advocates note rising antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias since U.S. ally Israel's devastating military assault on Gaza began after Palestinian Hamas militants' deadly October 2023 attack.

The Justice Department said a month ago it formed a task force to fight antisemitism. The U.S. Departments of Health and Education and the General Services Administration jointly made the review announcement on Monday.

"The Federal Government's Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is considering Stop Work Orders for $51.4 million in contracts between Columbia University and the Federal Government," the joint statement said.

The agencies said no contracting actions had been taken yet.

"The task force will also conduct a comprehensive review of the more than $5 billion in federal grant commitments to Columbia University."

The agencies did not respond to requests for comment on whether there were similar reviews over allegations of Islamophobia and anti-Arab bias.

Columbia had no immediate comment. It previously said it made efforts to tackle antisemitism.

College protests

Trump has signed an executive order to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.

Columbia was at the center of college protests in which demonstrators demanded an end to U.S. support for Israel due to the humanitarian crisis caused by Israel's assault on Gaza. There were allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia in protests and counter-protests.

During last summer's demonstrations around the country, classes were canceled, some university administrators resigned and student protesters were suspended and arrested.

While the intensity of protests has decreased in recent months, there were some demonstrations last week in New York after the expulsion of two students at Columbia University-affiliated Barnard College and after New York Governor Kathy Hochul ordered the removal of a Palestinian studies job listing at Hunter College.

A third student at Barnard College has since been expelled, this one related to the occupation of the Hamilton Hall building at Columbia last year.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)