(TibetanReview.net, Apr26’20) – China has approved its third novel coronavirus vaccines for clinical trials, reported the PTI Apr 25, citing the country’s official Xinhua news agency. They included one developed by the Chinese military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
The report said a vaccine developed by Wuhan Institute of Biological Products under the China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) had started its second phase of clinical trial on Apr 24.
WIV is suspect by many to be the lab from where SARS-Cov-2, the virus that has caused the Covid-19 pandemic, had escaped through an intern.
The report cited Sinopharm as saying a total of 96 persons in three age groups had received the vaccine in the first phase of clinical trial as of Apr 23. The vaccine was stated to have shown good safety results so far with the vaccine receivers being still under observation.
The second phase of clinical trial will focus on the vaccination procedure, while the vaccine will also go through the third phase of the clinical trial. It may take about one year to complete the clinical trial before finally reaching the conclusion on the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, Sinopharm was cited as saying.
A vaccine developed by the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences, was the first to be approved in China and across the world to enter a clinical trial. The first phase of the clinical trial was completed at the end of March, and the second phase started on Apr 12, the report said.
