China to Launch Clinical Trials for Two COVID-19 Vaccines

China's health authorities approved human clinical trials of two experimental vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 disease.

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These are two "inactivated" vaccines consisting of microorganisms that have been killed through physical or chemical processes.

One of them was developed by the Wuhan Institute of Virology and Sinopharm. Their vaccine will be tested on 1,396 volunteers in its first two phases, which are expected to last until Nov. 10, 2021.

The other vaccine results from the work of a pool of companies led by Sinovac Research & Development, which is a subsidiary of Sinovac Biotech, the company that worked on a vaccine for Acute and Severe Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

In mid-March, Chinese authorities approved the start of clinical trials for another coronavirus vaccine developed by the Military Academy of Sciences.

While it is possible to find a vaccine with maximum effectiveness, China is focused on controlling the COVID-19 through prevention, especially to avoid new outbreaks.

“If we don't test all travelers entering the country and take quarantine measures over the global spread, it will be very difficult to prevent and control the infection from the imported cases,” said respiratory expert Zhong Nanshan, as reported by Health Press.

To date, China has registered 82,249 COVID-19 patients, 77,738 patients have been discharged, and 3,341 deaths.​​​​​​​