A coronavirus vaccine currently being developed in China may be available to the general public as early as November, following the success recorded in its phase 3 trial.
This disclosure was made on Monday, by the Chief Biosafety Expert, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Guizhen Wu.
China has four COVID-19 vaccines that are currently in the final stages of a clinical trial, and at least three of them have already been offered to essential workers under an emergency use program launched in July.
Guizhen Wu, during an interview with the state TV on Monday, said that phase 3 clinical trials were proceeding smoothly, and the vaccines could be ready for the general public in November or December.
Wu, revealed that she has not experienced any abnormal symptoms in recent months after she took an experimental vaccine (unnamed) in April.
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Chinese Pharmaceutical and Biotechnological firms have been quite aggressive about the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, with companies like Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm, publicly displaying their vaccine candidate for the first time, at a trade fair in Beijing earlier this month.
A unit of state pharmaceutical giant, China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and the US-listed Sinovac Biotech SVA.O, are developing the three vaccines under the state’s emergency use program. A fourth COVID-19 vaccine being developed by CanSino Biologics 6185 HK, was approved for use by the Chinese military in June.
Sinopharm, in July, said that its vaccine could be ready for public use by the end of this year, after the conclusion of phase 3 trials.
There are currently about nine vaccine candidates in the final stage of human trials, although one of them, AstraZeneca and University of Oxford vaccine candidate, initially had a setback with the temporary suspension of its phase 3 trials due to safety concerns. It has now resumed trials.
