Chinese military scientists hope to test coronavirus vaccine abroad

Results from a first-stage clinical trial will be published this month, but researchers say more extensive tests would best be conducted overseas

Tests conducted in some of the worst-hit countries could help produce faster and more accurate results

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A researcher works on developing a vaccine targeting the new coronavirus in east China’s Shanghai on January 29, 2020. Researchers around the world are racing to develop a vaccine. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 6:30am, 2 Apr 2020Updated: 8:57pm, 25 Nov 2020

China hopes to test a possible Covid-19 vaccine abroad as scientists look to carry out large-scale trials to test its effectiveness.

Military scientists have been working on a vaccine and the results of the first-stage clinical trials will be announced later this month.

We have contained the virus so fast, and now we don’t have enough confirmed cases for further vaccine testing

Chen Ling, virologist

Chen Ling, a virologist at the State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, said the second and third-stage trials would need thousands of subjects and carrying out these tests in the worst-hit countries would help to produce faster and more accurate results.

“We have contained the virus so fast, and now we don’t have enough confirmed cases for further vaccine testing,” he said.

“For example, it may need thousands of people to be tested in order to know if there is a statistical significance in protection between people who received a candidate vaccine and people who didn’t.” ”

Chen Wei, a top epidemiologist and virologist with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, told state-owned newspaper China Daily that if the initial results proved the vaccine was safe and produced the desired effects, China would look to test its effectiveness overseas if the global epidemic continued to spread.