China approves two experimental Covid-19 vaccines for clinical trials

Coronavirus has killed more than 100,000 people worldwide

BEIJING: China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus that killed over 100,000 people worldwide, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.

The vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group.

In March, China have the green-light for another clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by military-backed China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences and HK-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio, shortly after US drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health.



Vaccine needed to stop virus spread

The World Health Organization said Monday that a safe and effective vaccine would be needed to fully halt the spread of COVID-19, which has killed more than 114,000 people worldwide.

"Our global connectedness means the risk of re-introduction and resurgence of COVID19 will continue," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from Geneva, stressing that "ultimately, the development and delivery of a safe and effective vaccine will be needed to fully interrupt transmission."