China’s First COVID-19 Vaccine Test On Indian Monkeys Successful

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

China may well be celebrating a ‘Eureka’ moment as its first COVID-19 vaccine test on monkeys has turned out to be successful.

According to reports, COVID-19 vaccine PiCoVacc, made by Beijing-based Sinovac Biotech, was injected into rhesus macaques, a type of monkey originating in India.

Three weeks later, the vaccinated monkeys were exposed to the novel coronavirus.

After a week, it was observed that the monkeys which were administered more doses of the vaccine were not infected with the COVID-19 virus leading to the belief that the vaccine was effective.

The monkeys that were not administered the PiCoVacc vaccine got infected with the virus and developed severe pneumonia.

According to sources, China has already started testing the vaccine on human beings, since mid-April.

Besides PiCoVacc, another vaccine named Sinopharm’s product, made by a Chinese military institution, has also entered the second phase of clinical trials.