Two new COVID-19 vaccines in phase three trials

Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science and Technology, answers questions on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions on March 8. [Photo by Wang Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

China is making progress in the development of nucleic acid vaccines for COVID-19, with a mRNA vaccine and a DNA vaccine in phase three clinical trials overseas, Wang Zhigang, Minister of Science and Technology, said on the sidelines of the ongoing two sessions on Tuesday.

Wang did not provide specific information about the vaccines. At the moment, China has granted conditional market approval to five vaccines, including three inactivated vaccines, one adenovirus vector vaccine and one recombinant protein subunit vaccine.

China has also approved one neutralizing antibody treatment for COVID-19 and Chinese scientists are researching drugs that may work on multiple COVID-19 strains including Delta, Omicron and other mutated variants, he said.

Meanwhile, China is also exploring new methods to administer COVID-19 vaccines, such as by inhalation or via nasal spray. "They are showing good progress," Wang said.

"The more tools for tackling COVID-19 that science and technology can provide, the better our anti-epidemic measures can become," he said.