RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Chinese National Pharmaceutical Group, state-owned and known as Sinopharm, may be ready for distribution later this year. The announcement was made by Sinopharm CEO Liu Jingzhen in an interview with Chinese state television CCTV.
According to Jingzhen, clinical trials began last week in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, and are expected to be completed in approximately three months, paving the way for market delivery by the end of 2020.
However, World Health Organization Executive Director Michael Ryan on Wednesday ruled out the prospect of a vaccine this quickly. “The idea that we will have a vaccine in two or three months and suddenly this virus will have passed… I’d love to tell you that, but it’s not realistic,” he said at a press conference.
Race for Vaccine
Another Chinese lab is also in the race for a vaccine against the novel coronavirus. Pharmaceutical Sinovac is developing the Coronavac in partnership with the São Paulo state-owned Butantan Institute and is already conducting trials on volunteers in Brazil. However, according to São Paulo Governor João Doria, doses for general use should only be produced in early 2021.
Another experimental immunizer being tested in Brazil is the AZD1222, developed by Oxford University with pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca. On yet another front, pharmaceutical companies Pfizer and BioNTech are expected to deliver at least 100 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year, but the amount has already been fully purchased by the United States.
Source: Estadão Conteúdo