China has approved the trial of two Coronavirus vaccines on humans, as the government aims to prevent a re-occurence of the disease in the country.
According to state owned news agency Xinhua, the Chinese Government approved the two experimental vaccines created by a Beijing-based unit of Sinovac Biotech and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products that is affiliated to state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group, and wants to start testing the vaccines on humans as it has successfully carried out tests on animals.
“We can confirm now that three particular vaccines are being tested in China, and the National Health Commission has said it will have to clear a number of conditions before they can enable mass production of the vaccines globally,” Hong Kong based Sarah Clarke said to AlJazeera on Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time China is giving authorization for the production of experimental vaccines, as in March, Beijing gave the green light to another clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by the military-backed Academy of Military Medical Sciences and biotech firm CanSino Bio.
China’s decision to give authorization came shortly after US drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health.
John Nicholls, clinical professor of Pathology at the University of Hong Kong, urged scientists and nations working on a vaccine not to rush it’s production because of global demand.
“Vaccines can’t be rushed”; Nicholls said to Al Jazeera.
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“Normally with vaccines you start off with small animals and then move to primates and then to the humans,” “It seems that with this one they have gone straight to the humans, which is a very bold decision.
“Most of the mortality in this disease is in the elderly, so the best thing would be to actually see what the anti-body response is in the elderly rather than the young,”
