Chinese pharmaceutical companies have developed new vaccines based on dead viruses of the omicron variant. Two of the candidates can now be tested on human subjects.
Two Chinese vaccine candidates have been approved for clinical trials in Hong Kong. As the Beijing-based pharmaceutical company Sinovac Biotech announced, this is an inactivated virus-based inactivated vaccine that was specially developed to protect against the omicron variant.
An inactivated vaccine from the China National Biotec Group – also specifically developed against Omicron – has also been approved for clinical trials in Hong Kong, the company said.
Zero Covid strategy is reaching its limits
China is currently suffering from the largest corona wave since the pandemic began two years ago. Several cities are partially or completely locked down, including the economic metropolis of Shanghai. But the strict curfews have so far failed to contain the virus. More than 20,000 infections have been constantly registered in the city for days.
As the rest of the world tries to live with the virus, China’s authorities continue to implement a rigid zero-Covid strategy, already responding to small outbreaks of infection with lockdowns, mass testing and aggressive contact tracing. However, the highly infectious omicron variant pushes China’s rigid measures to their limits.
