Photo: Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences

China has approved the fourth COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, a Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell vaccine jointly developed by experts from the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (China’s CDC) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the academy announced Monday. 

On February 22, the Uzbek legislature approved the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the vaccine in Uzbekistan. The vaccine was approved for use on March 1. Uzbekistan rates the vaccine as one of the safest and most effective in the world.

The vaccine, developed by a team led by Gao Fu, director of China’s CDC, is one of the five technical routes, laid out by the scientific research team of the State Council, for the joint prevention and control mechanism of COVID-19.

The academy’s statement said the vaccine completed phases I and II of the clinical trials in October 2020. The results showed that there were no serious adverse reactions after complete inoculation. The neutralizing antibody level produced by the vaccine was comparable to that of other recombinant protein vaccines and mRNA vaccines currently used worldwide, meeting advanced international standards. 

Phase III of clinical trials of the vaccine was launched in China, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Ecuador and Indonesia, in November 2020, with 29,000 participants scheduled to be vaccinated.

The Phase III of the clinical trial is progressing well, particularly with high recognition from Uzbekistan, the country where the trial was first started, the statement said. 

The CHO cell vaccine does not require a high-level biosafety laboratory production facility. The production process is stable and reliable, and production can be quickly increased at home and abroad, significantly reducing production costs, and is convenient for storage and transportation.

Global Times