China’s National Health Commission has said COVID-19 vaccines could complete their second-phase clinical trials as early as July.
Speaking at a news conference on Friday, its vice minister said the trials so far had been successful.
(SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) NATIONAL HEALTH COMMISSION VICE MINISTER, ZENG YIXIN, SAYING:
“During the clinical trials of these projects, as of now, we haven’t received any reports of any major adverse reactions to it. In the first and second clinical trials, we didn’t find any major adverse reactions. According to plan, if everything works well, the projects mentioned above will be finished with their second phase clinical trials by July.”
At the same conference, the NHC’s Disease Control Bureau said that the risk of a COVID-19 resurgence in China from so-called imported infections is controllable.
China reported four new coronavirus cases on the mainland on May 14 – all of them locally transmitted.
It has banned most foreigners from entering its borders since late March as the pandemic spread globally.
