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China may start clinical trials of coronavirus vaccine in April

February 23, 2020, 12:54 pm

BEIJING – Chinese scientists will be able to prepare the new vaccine against the coronavirus for clinical trials at the end of April at the earliest, China's Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Xu Nanping told a briefing on Friday.

"When it comes to developing a vaccine, according to comprehensive research and preliminary calculations, this vaccine will be submitted for clinical trials no earlier than at the end of April," Xu said.

The Chinese authorities registered an outbreak of the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV in the city of Wuhan.

Cases of new coronavirus were confirmed in 25 other countries and territories, including in Russia.

The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

According to latest reports, the death toll from the new coronavirus climbed to 2,236, while around 18,300 people recovered, and the total number of confirmed cases exceeded 75,400. (TASS)

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