China's COVID-19 Vaccine Capable of Covering Virus Mutations

The Institute of Military Medicine (IMM) researcher Chen Wei informed that China can realize an annual production of 300 million doses of a recombinant COVID-19 vaccine that can completely cover all the mutations of the new coronavirus

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This recombinant vaccine uses a modified defective adenovirus as vector. The current data show a very low mutation probability of the gene that the team selected from the virus to make the vaccine.

Even if the chosen gene mutates, weakening the vaccine's protective effect, the vaccine can still achieve basic immunity, and China can quickly develop a vaccine specifically targeting the mutation to enhance the immunity effect

"It's like upgrade and patch for software," said Chen, who is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The IMM vaccine started phase-1 clinical trials on March 16. According to the data published in the journal The Lancet, all 108 vaccinated participants produced antibodies. His editor-in-chief Richard Horton confirmed that, besides being safe and well-tolerated, the Chinese vaccine induced a rapid immune response.

In July, the data of the vaccine's phase-2 clinical trials were released to the world. The results of the two phases of clinical trials verified the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. At present, the phase-3 clinical trials are being carried out abroad to further test the efficacy and safety of the vaccine among a greater number of participants.

Although there is insufficient data to confirm the duration of the vaccine's efficacy, “the data show that the dose vaccinated in March is still effective,” Chen said.

After phase-3 clinical trials are completed, the IMM team will expand the production capacity to facilitate mass vaccination at any time.