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HEALTH-VIRUS-CHINA-VACCINE
China embarks on clinical trial for virus vaccine
BEIJING, March 22, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – China has started the first phase of a
clinical trial for a novel coronavirus vaccine, records show, as the world’s
scientists race to find a way to combat the deadly pathogen.
It comes after US health officials said last week they had started a trial
to evaluate a possible vaccine in Seattle.
The Chinese effort began on March 16 — the same day as the US
announcement — and is expected to continue until the end of the year,
according to a filing in the country’s Clinical Trial Registry, dated March
17.
“Volunteers of the COVID-19 phase one trial have already started receiving
the vaccine,” a staff member involved in the government-funded project told
AFP on Sunday.
The 108 participants, aged between 18 and 60, will be tested in three
groups and given different dosages. They are all residents of the central
city of Wuhan — where the new coronavirus first emerged late last year.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages and governments step up protection
measures, pharmaceutical companies and research labs around the world are
working at full tilt.
There are currently no approved vaccines or medication for the new
disease, which has killed more than 13,000 people worldwide so far.
The vaccine trial announcements come amid an escalating feud between the
US and China over the pandemic, with President Donald Trump enraging Beijing
by speaking of the “Chinese virus”.
China’s nationalistic Global Times published an opinion piece last week
noting “the development of a vaccine is a battle that China cannot afford to
lose”.
But the quest is expected to take time — the US candidate vaccine may
take another year to 18 months before becoming available.
An antiviral treatment called remdesivir, made by US-based Gilead
Sciences, is already in the final stages of clinical trials in Asia and
doctors in China have reported it has proven effective in fighting the
disease.
But only randomised trials will allow scientists to know for sure if it
really helps or whether patients would have recovered without it.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1818 hrs