Beijing, September 7: China on Monday put indigenous vaccine candidates that could prevent coronavirus (COVID-19) infection on display for the first time. The vaccine candidates, produced by Chinese companies Sinovac Biotech and Sinopharm, were on display at a trade fair in Beijing. Notably, none of the Chinese coronavirus vaccines has hit the market and makers hope to get all necessary approvals by this year-end. COVID-19 Vaccine Latest News Update: China Has Been Giving Unapproved Coronavirus Vaccines to Key Workers Since July, Says Chinese Official.

Sinovac Biotech's potential COVID-19 vaccine's name is CoronaVac, which is in phase 3 clinical trials. According to a report, about 90% of Sinovac's employees and their families have taken the experimental vaccine. Side effects after taking CoronaVac include fatigue, fever and pain, with mostly mild symptoms, according to results of a mid-stage trial during which 600 participants were given the experimental vaccine. COVID-19 Vaccine Update: Tunisia to Launch Coronavirus Vaccine in Early 2021.

Sinopharm's COVID-19 vaccines are also in phase 3 clinical trials. State-run Global Times had earlier reported that employees of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) preparing to go abroad and frontline health workers were offered two choices of domestic inactivated vaccine candidates developed by Sinopharm for urgent use. One of the inactivated COVID-19 vaccines on August 13 was revealed to have had a low rate of adverse reactions for patients in phase I and II clinical trials, while also demonstrating immunogenicity results.

Meanwhile, Russia has begun production of the first batch of vaccines against COVID-19. The world's first registered vaccine against the novel coronavirus was announced by President Vladimir Putin last month, during an online meeting with government officials. However, no country has produced a vaccine that passed large-scale phase 3 trials to prove it is effective and safe enough to protect people against the virus that has millions of lives globally.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 07, 2020 06:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).