WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump expressed a willingness to work with China or other countries to bring a successful coronavirus vaccine to the United States, despite rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.
“We’re willing to work with anybody that is going to get us a good result,” Trump said, when asked if the administration would collaborate with China on a vaccine for Americans, whether China is first to develop one or not. ​
The remarks on Tuesday came a day after researchers said a vaccine against the coronavirus developed by China’s CanSino Biologics Inc and China’s military research unit appeared to be safe and induced immune responses in most subjects in a closely-watched mid-stage study.
The CanSino candidate is one of a handful of vaccines that have shown some promise in early human testing. Others gearing up for such trials include vaccines from US-based Moderna Inc and Germany’s BioNTech SE, in partnership with American drugmaker Pfizer Inc.
Data from a combined early/midstage trial of a vaccine candidate being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca was also released on Monday (July 20).
Trump has long blamed China for mishandling the deadly coronavirus pandemic, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and charged across the United States, killing more than 140,000 Americans and raising the stakes for a quick and viable vaccine.
“I think we’re going to have some very good results. We’re already in testing. Nobody thought that would be possible,” he said. “I think you’re going to see something over the next fairly short period of time — maybe very short period of time — having to do with therapeutics and vaccines that are very good,” he said.
Chinese COVID-19 vaccine starts final tests in Brazil
Meanwhile, a Chinese-made vaccine against the new coronavirus entered the final stage of testing Tuesday in Brazil, where volunteers received the first doses of what officials hope will be a game-changer in the pandemic.
The vaccine, developed by private Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac, became the third in the world to enter Phase 3 clinical trials, or large-scale testing on humans — the last step before regulatory approval.
“We’re living in unique and historic times, and that’s why I wanted to be part of this trial,” said the 27-year-old doctor who received the first dose at the Clinical Hospital of Sao Paulo.
