06/21/2020 - 17:20
- Clarín.com
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The inactivated coronavirus vaccine developed by the Institute of Medical Biology of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences has entered phase 2 of clinical trials , according to the Chinese Journal of Science and Technology.
Phase 2 of the trials further evaluates the immunogenicity and safety of the vaccine in humans . Trials are being carried out in Yunnan province, in the south of the country.
The ongoing phase 1 study has had about 200 participants since May. In phase two, the dose of the vaccine is determined and the immune response it causes in healthy people continues to be evaluated.
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So far, five candidate vaccines for COVID-19 have been approved for clinical trials in China, accounting for 40 percent of all global clinical trial vaccines , according to data from the Ministry of Science and Technology.
At the moment, none of the clinical trials in the world have passed phase 3 , the last stage of large-scale clinical trials, a necessary step before obtaining regulatory approval for sale.
The most optimistic forecasts estimate that the first coronavirus vaccine could be ready by the end of this year. Already in late 2020, certain groups of people with special needs may start to be vaccinated with experimental compounds if there is an emergency, said director of the China Center for Disease Prevention and Control, Gao Fu last month.
The new coronavirus, discovered in China in late 2019, has infected 8,808 billion people worldwide and killed more than 460,000 infected people .
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Watch the specialAfter several days of fear of a coronavirus outbreak, the health situation in the Chinese capital, Beijing, seems to have stabilized in terms of new infections, while the local government announced today that it already has the capacity to perform up to almost 25,000 tests daily to detect the illness.
Beijing added 22 cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, the same number as the previous day, bringing the total number of cases of the new outbreak to 227 since June 11, according to official data.
The figures released by the authorities seem to show that the outbreak started in the Xinfadi wholesale market has stabilized and that, as chief epidemiologist Wu Zunyou advanced last week, the peak of cases has already reached and there are hardly any new infections. However, the authorities continue to test the population.
A municipal government official said at a press conference that the capital now has the capacity to carry out almost 250,000 tests a day.
So far, it has made more than two million, or more than 10% of its population , and it tracks employees from restaurants, universities and markets.
It also tests workers prone to transmit the disease due to their constant contact with the public, such as food and beverage supply services, drivers, supermarkets and shopping centers.
More than 7,500 health workers test at 124 designated centers throughout the city, the official explained.
However, one of the municipal spokesmen added that "it is inevitable that from time to time the results are not accurate." Therefore, he advised that those who do not feel safe should have a second test, especially if they reside in risk areas.
Disinfection work continues, affecting restaurants, markets and universities.
The municipal government announced Tuesday that Beijing was moving from the third to the second emergency level, so all face-to-face classes are suspended, and residents are advised to work from home, while communities in "high" risk areas remained sealed and no one is allowed to leave them.
Restrictions to leave the capital were also maintained and, if so, a negative test for coronavirus carried out in the seven days prior to departure must be presented.
These measures seek "to prevent the virus from spreading through the capital or reaching other parts of China ," deputy director of municipal public security Pang Xuhong said last week.
Chinese epidemiologist Zhang Wenhong said that "the Beijing outbreak is not a second wave of the virus" and that it is more of "a spontaneous outbreak registered in a short period of time, and already under control."
Preliminary research by Chinese scientists suggests that the strain of this new outbreak found en masse on the Xinfadi market comes from Europe, but they still debate how it would have gotten there.
So far salmon has been caught on a cutting board, but according to experts there is no evidence that the infected became infected by eating contaminated food, including shellfish.
Source: Xinhua and EFE
