For the first time, China has put its homegrown COVID-19 vaccines on display. High hopes hang on the vials of liquid on show. The display of the small vials of vaccines was at a Beijing trade fair. The vaccines were produced by Chinese companies of Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm. However, neither of the vaccines has hit the market.
The makers are hopeful that the vaccines will get approval from the government after all the phase three trials by the end of the year.
According to a Sinovac representative, the firm has already completed the construction of a vaccine factory. The factory can produce 300 million doses per year.
On September 7, people at the trade fair crowded around the booths. This can be a potential game-changing vaccine. According to sources, two doses of the vaccine will cost around 1000 Yuan (about $146). The Sinopharm’s chairman has also confirmed that he has already injected himself with one of the candidate vaccines.
The potential vaccines on display are among nearly 10 worldwide to enter phase 3 trials. Sinopharm predicts that the antibodies from their vaccines will last between 1 to 3 years. However, they will know the final result only after the trials.
Till last month, a total of 5.7 billion doses of vaccines were in developing stages around the world. But, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that widespread immunization of COVID-19 vaccines is not possible until the middle of 2021.
China has been facing many foreign criticisms over its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, China has been trying their best to repurpose the story of the pandemic. The state and officials are also stressing on the revival of Wuhan. They are planning to revive the central city of China as a success story in the fight against COVID-19.