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BEIJING (Reuters) – Coronavirus vaccines being developed in China may be ready for use by the general public from November, an official with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said. .
China has four COVID-19 vaccines in the final stage of clinical trials. At least three of them have already been offered to essential workers under an emergency use program launched in July.
Phase 3 clinical trials were progressing smoothly, and vaccines could be ready for the general public in November or December, CDC biosafety expert Guizhen Wu said in an interview with state television late Monday.
Wu, who said she has not experienced abnormal symptoms in recent months after taking an experimental vaccine herself in April, did not specify which vaccines she was referring to.
A unit of the state pharmaceutical giant China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) and Sinovac Biotech, which is listed in the United States, are developing the three vaccines under the state program for emergency use. A fourth COVID-19 vaccine being developed by CanSino Biologics was approved for use by the Chinese military in June.
Sinopharm said in July that its vaccine could be ready for public use later this year after the conclusion of phase 3 trials.
Global vaccine manufacturers are rushing to develop an effective vaccine against the virus that has killed more than 925,000 people. Major Western vaccine manufacturers pledged earlier this month to uphold the standards of scientific studies and reject any political pressure to speed up the process.
(Corrects the typo in the LED; CDC China uses the American style center in the title)
(Reporting by Roxanne Liu and Tony Munroe in Beijing; Edited by Miyoung Kim and Jane Wardell)
