Chinese military scientists ordered to win global race to develop coronavirus vaccine
- Top leadership ramps up efforts as researchers around the world scramble to develop a treatment first
- Scientists from the Academy of Military Medical Scientists have been authorised to start clinical trials on a possible vaccine
The Chinese military has been ordered to join the race to develop the world’s first vaccine for Covid-19, according to military and scientific sources.
CCTV described the vaccine being developed by Chen’s team alongside Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics as the front-runner among nine possible treatments being worked on by Chinese scientists.
Researchers around the world are scrambling to develop a vaccine for the disease, and one expert said the Chinese leadership would feel they had “lost face” if the Americans beat them to it.
The start of the Chinese trial follows the news that the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Massachusetts-based biotechnology company Moderna have recruited 45 “healthy adult volunteers”, ages 18 to 55, to test a vaccine that copies the genetic code of the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.