China's COVID-19 vaccines ahead of the curve

China has made the fastest progress of any nation in developing COVID-19 vaccines, with four products in stage 3 trials, according to a Bloomberg report on Oct 26.

The report highlighted the Chinese vaccines in trials in Brazil and the United Arab Emirates, as well as in China itself. "While final results are not in, data from Brazil indicate that the Sinovac vaccine likely is safe."

One recent paper in the medical journal The Lancet called the result as "promising" and also sufficiently safe, according to the report titled A Chinese Vaccine Could Save American Lives.

Another advantage of the Chinese vaccines is that they are designed for quick production and rapid scalability, said the report, adding that the US government could include Chinese vaccines into its purchases.

Despite the trade war between China and the US, a cash deal is quite possible, since the Chinese have been very active making advance sales of their vaccines abroad, and China also just signed up for COVAX, the vaccine-sharing multilateral arrangement, according to the report.