China Allows Two Covid-19 Vaccines To Enter Trials

China has approved early-stage human tests for two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus that has killed over 100,000 people worldwide, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

The vaccines are being developed by a Beijing-based unit of Nasdaq-listed Sinovac Biotech, and by the Wuhan Institute of Biological Products, an affiliate of state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group.

In March, Beijing gave the green-light for another clinical trial for a coronavirus vaccine candidate developed by military-backed China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences and HK-listed biotech firm CanSino Bio, shortly after US drug developer Moderna said it had begun human tests for their vaccine with the US National Institutes of Health.

The mainland recorded 89 new coronavirus cases on April 13, down from 108 the previous day, health authorities said on Tuesday.

Of the total, 86 were imported, down from 98 a day earlier, the National Health Commission said.

CCTV had reported earlier that 79 of the day's imported cases were in the northeast province of Heilongjiang, which shares a border with Russia.

The number of total confirmed cases on the mainland now stands at 82,249. Its death toll from the pandemic stands at 3,341, with no new deaths on April 13, according to mainland authorities. (Reuters)