Sao Paulo (AFP) – Brazil will begin advanced clinical testing of a Chinese-made vaccine against the new coronavirus on Tuesday, issuing the first doses to about 900 volunteers, authorities said.
The coronavirus vaccine, developed by Chinese private pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, is the third in the world to enter phase 3 trials, or large-scale human trials, the last step before regulatory approval.
It will be administered to doctors and other health workers who volunteer for the program in six states in Brazil, one of the countries most affected by the pandemic.
“The trials of CoronaVac, one of the most advanced vaccines in tests in the world, will begin at the Clinical Hospital of Sao Paulo,” said state governor Joao Doria at a press conference.
He said initial results were expected within 90 days.
Sinovac is partnering with a Brazilian public health research center, the Butantan Institute, for the trials.
If the vaccine is safe and effective, the institute will have the right to produce 120 million doses under the agreement, according to officials.
“In Brazil, we could have the first vaccine for widespread use, which is very, very promising,” said the director of the Butantan Institute, Dimas Covas.
Brazil is the second most affected country in the coronavirus pandemic, after the United States.
Its death toll exceeded 80,000 on Monday, and it has recorded 2.1 million infections.
Those grim numbers make it an ideal testing ground for potential vaccines, as the virus is still spreading rapidly.
Brazil is also helping to carry out Phase 3 testing of another experimental vaccine, developed by the University of Oxford in Great Britain and the pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca.
Another vaccine, developed by the Chinese state-owned company Sinopharm, also entered Phase 3 trials this month in the United Arab Emirates.
They are the three most advanced of dozens of projects worldwide by scientists competing to develop and test a vaccine against the new virus.
A fourth existing tuberculosis vaccine is also in Phase 3 trials in Australia as a possible coronavirus immunization.
