Chinese state media have stoked concerns about Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine, despite rigorous trials that showed it was safe. The Associated Press reports that a government spokesperson has raised the unfounded theory that the coronavirus could have emerged from a US military lab, giving it more credence in China.

State media and officials are sowing doubts about Western vaccines and the origin of the coronavirus in an apparent bid to deflect renewed criticism of China's early Covid-19 response. Both issues are in the spotlight because of the rollout of vaccines globally and the recent arrival of a World Health Organisation team in Wuhan, China, to investigate the origins of the virus.

In the latest volley, state media called for an investigation into the deaths of 23 elderly people in Norway after they received the Pfizer vaccine. An anchor at CGTN, the English-language station of state broadcaster CCTV, and the Global Times newspaper accused Western media of ignoring the news.

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