Saudi Arabia Plans Human Trial of China’s CanSino Virus Vaccine
The kingdom has recorded more than 280,000 coronavirus cases, placing it among the 15 countries with the highest totals.
(Bloomberg) --
Saudi Arabia plans to conduct a clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine developed by China’s CanSino Biologics on at least 5,000 volunteers.
The vaccine has produced an immune response in earlier trials in China. The trial in Saudi Arabia will be conducted in Riyadh, Mecca and Dammam, with one group of participants receiving a low dose of vaccine and the other a placebo, the Health Ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
The kingdom of 34 million has recorded more than 280,000 coronavirus cases, placing it among the 15 countries with the highest totals. New cases have dipped from a peak of nearly 5,000 per day in June to 1,428 on Sunday. The number has risen slightly in recent days, however, something the Health Ministry has attributed to people gathering during an Islamic holiday last week.
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