Inside China’s exhausting race to develop a coronavirus vaccine
- Researchers worked around the clock in trying conditions to find potential candidates, a state agency says
- A top state official was among the first to be given the shots
The race in China to develop coronavirus vaccines pushed researchers to near exhaustion and involved giving experimental shots to a state leader, according to a state agency’s account.
In the account released on Saturday, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) said molecular biologist Chen Zhu, a deputy chairman of China’s top legislature, was among the four scientists who took an experimental vaccine on March 23, 19 days before it was approved for human trials.
The other three to take the experimental shots were CNBG chairman Yang Xiaoming; Duan Kai, president of the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products; and Li Cesheng, vice-president of the Wuhan Institute of Blood Products.
“This could only happen in China. Scientists and top officials tested drugs on their own bodies, showing their confidence in the CNBG vaccines,” Sasac said.