China Approves Clinical Trials For 16 COVID-19 Vaccine Candidates; Six Already In The Third Stage

In a big push towards the development of vaccines to tackle the continuing menace of COVID-19, China has approved clinical trials for 16 indigenous vaccine candidates, six of which are already in the third stage, reports Economic Times.

The latest set of vaccine candidates are said to based on recombinant protein, adenovirus vector, nucleic acid and attenuates influenza-viruses technologies as per the data from National Medical Products Administration.

Meanwhile, it should be noted that the authorities in China have already accorded conditional approval to two inactivated COVID-19 vaccines developed by state-owned firms Sinopharm and Sinovac Biotech.

As per the Chinese state-run media Xinhua, as of 9 February, China had completed vaccinating 40.52 million people in the key groups. The nation has so far reported 4,833 deaths and 1,00,727 confirmed cases.