China at the Forefront in COVID-19 Vaccine Race

China is where Coronavirus was born and now, the country is also ahead in developing a vaccine for the contagious virus. A Chinese research firm attached to the military has become the first organization to enter the second clinical-trial stage to develop a vaccine.

The research team led by Major General Chen Wei of the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences of the People’s Liberation Army developed the vaccine and the first phase of the clinical trial was completed at the end of March, and the second phase started on April 12.

It is the first vaccine across the globe to enter the second phase of the clinical trial. 500 volunteer participants took the shot on Sunday. Among the participants is an 84-year-old Wuhan resident, Xiong Zhengxing. China is at the forefront of the vaccine development as it was the first to map out the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus.

Later on, it shared the genome sequence with the WHO, the US, and other countries. In India, the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech lab are also trying to develop the vaccines. The contagious virus has claimed around 1,25,000 lives across the globe.