As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, several vaccine candidates are in various stages of trials. Here are all the latest updates on coronavirus vaccines and their progress.
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1 | Chinese COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows promise in human trial, says study: One of China's leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates, called BBIBP-CorV, was shown to be safe and elicited immune response in a small early-phase human trial, researchers said on Friday. A previous clinical trial reported similar results for a different vaccine that is also based on inactivated whole SARS-CoV-2 virus, but in that study the vaccine was only tested in people aged under 60 years.
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2 | Britain moves closer to COVID-19 vaccine trials that infect volunteers: "Human challenge" trials of potential COVID-19 vaccines, where volunteers are deliberately infected with the disease, could become a reality after a British biotech firm signed a contract with the government to create and provide strains of the virus. Preliminary work for the trials, which aim to speed up the process of determining the efficacy of a vaccine candidate, is being carried out by hVIVO, a unit of pharmaceutical services company Open Orphan, hVIVO said.
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3 | NHS England in talks on rollout of potential COVID vaccine from December, says report: The National Health Service (NHS) is in talks with the British Medical Association (BMA) and others around mobilising the rollout of a potential COVID-19 vaccine from December, Pulse website for health professionals reported. There is optimism around the first cohorts being given a vaccine in December but there is a 50/50 chance of the vaccine being available by that time, Pulse reported, citing a person close to the discussions.
4 | Sinovac coronavirus vaccine offered by Chinese city for emergency use costs $60: A Chinese city is offering Sinovac Biotech's experimental COVID-19 vaccine to essential workers and other high-risk groups as part of a national programme for about $60. The eastern city of Jiaxin's center for disease control and prevention (CDC) said in a statement on WeChat that two doses of the vaccine candidate, called CoronaVac, will cost 200 yuan ($29.75) per dose and that vaccinations for key groups including medical professionals have begun.
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5 | World Bank approves $12 billion for COVID-19 vaccines: The World Bank (WB) said that it has approved $12 billion for developing countries to finance the purchase and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatment. The financing “aims to support vaccination of up to a billion people,” a statement read.