Chile on Wednesday authorized the launch of clinical studies concerning two vaccines against the coronavirus developed by the Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac Biotech and by the Belgian Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies, informed the Ministry of Health.
Each of its trials, whose launch date has not been specified, will involve some 3,000 volunteers, men and women aged 18 to 59, said Minister of Health Enrique Paris.
Other clinical trials, involving the British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, are still awaiting the green light from the Chilean government.
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A vaccine, before being marketed, must pass at least three phases of tests: the first is carried out on a sample of 20 to 100 people, the second makes it possible to evaluate the side effects and the third relates to several thousand people.
The two vaccines for which clinical trials have just been authorized in Chile are in phase three of these tests.
Chile has some 462,991 cases of contamination and has already recorded 12,741 deaths since the start of the epidemic, according to the latest report released Wednesday by the Ministry of Health.
