China approves 16 locally-made COVID-19 vaccines for clinical trials

Six of the vaccines are in the third stage of the trials.

February 21, 2021 05:09 pm | Updated 05:09 pm IST - Beijing

A healthcare worker injects a senior with a second dose of China's Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine, during a priority vaccination program for the elderly at the Bezerra de Menezes Asylum in Brasilia, Brazil, on Feb. 18, 2021.

A healthcare worker injects a senior with a second dose of China's Sinovac CoronaVac vaccine, during a priority vaccination program for the elderly at the Bezerra de Menezes Asylum in Brasilia, Brazil, on Feb. 18, 2021.

China has approved clinical trials for 16 indigenous COVID-19 vaccines, of which six are in the third stage, according to a state-run media report.

The latest vaccines for clinical trials are based on recombinant protein, adenovirus vector, nucleic acid and attenuated influenza-viruses technologies, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday, citing data from the National Medical Products Administration.

Six of the vaccines are in the third stage of the trials, which is one of the last phases, it said.

China has already given conditional approval to two inactivated COVID-19 vaccines made by state-owned developers – Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech.

The coronavirus has claimed 4,833 lives, along with 100,727 confirmed cases in China, according to the Johns Hopkins University.

As of February 9, China has given 40.52 million COVID-19 jabs to key groups, Xinhua reported, quoting a National Health Commission official.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.