Brazil lab starts human trials in global race for COVID vaccine

A laboratory in Brazil has started human trials of a potential Chinese vaccine against COVID-19, as part of the global race to end the pandemic. The trials will involve 9,000 volunteers spread across 12 research centers located in Sao Paulo and four other states as well as the federal district Brasília. China has been looking overseas to trial potential vaccines because of a lack of new patients at home.

No COVID-19 vaccine has yet been approved for commercial use. According to a WHO summary of the state of vaccine development for COVID-19, there are 23 potential vaccines in human trials, with three of them in or starting large-scale late stage, or Phase III, trials to test efficacy. After the United States, Brazil has the most cases of coronavirus at more than 2.1 million and over 80,000 deaths.