Official Says Vaccine Could Be Ready By November

A China-developed coronavirus vaccine could be ready for the public as early as November, a mainland official has told state television.

The chief biosafety expert at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control told state broadcaster CCTV late on Monday that a vaccine would be available to the general public "around November or December".

Wu Guizhen did not specify which vaccine she was referring to, but said "based on the phase 3 clinical results, the current progress is very smooth".

Wu added that she had taken a vaccine in April and has felt good over the past few months, although she did not specify which candidate she had taken.

Chinese manufacturers have been bullish about development, with companies Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm even putting their vaccine candidates on display at a trade fair in Beijing this month.

Representatives of the firms had said then that they hope their vaccines will be approved after phase 3 trials as early as year-end.

There are currently nine vaccine candidates in late-stage human trials, although some have hit recent obstacles – pharma giant AstraZeneca and Oxford University momentarily paused clinical trials last week after a volunteer developed an unexplained illness.

Some of China's vaccine candidates have already been offered to essential workers under an emergency use programme. (AFP)