A VACCINE for the Covid-19 virus is expected to be ready by the end of this year or early next year if ongoing processes in China run smoothly, according to a medical expert from China.
Doctor and postdoctoral researcher of Sun Yat-sen University in China, Sun Jiufeng, said the republic was currently developing two different vaccines, with both now in phase two of clinical trials expected to end by this or next month.
He said once the phase two results are ready, they will then move into phase three of clinical trials, which may take longer to complete and would involve more volunteers.
“Currently, the whole world has been accelerating the development of a vaccine. If everything goes smoothly, then maybe we can see the vaccine by the end of this year or at the beginning of next year.
“However, for the actual application of this vaccine, because the need is really high, I think it’s safe to say that the vaccine will be used on patients definitely in the next year,” he said in an interview with Bernama and The Star at the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur today.
Sun said his team had held discussions with Malaysia, which showed high interest in participating in the development of the vaccine in China, especially in phase three of the clinical trials.
“If we cooperate on this, then it will no doubt accelerate the vaccine’s development and bring a lot of benefit to Malaysia sooner,” he said.
Present at the interview were the chief physician, professor and postgraduate supervisor of the Integrated Chinese and Western Emergency Medicine, Li Jun, and associate professor, postgraduate supervisor, associate chief physician of ICU, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Wen Miaoyun.
Meanwhile, Li said there has been much debate on alternative treatments for the virus, none of which have shown any clinical proof of effectiveness.
However, he said, traditional Chinese medicine has been largely applied to treat Covid-19 patients back home and proven to be quite effective.
“We have shared our experience on this effectiveness with our Malaysian colleagues. We also hope, if the situation allows, Malaysia can introduce traditional Chinese medicine in treating Covid-19 as soon as possible to bring benefit to patients.
“The specific medication is different depending on each patient and their situations. So, we applied different medication for different patients and made sure they were suitable for each situation,” he said.
The team of eight medical professionals from China arrived in Kuala Lumpur on April 18 and met local experts, including Health director-general Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, recently.
Yesterday, Noor Hisham had said the Chinese medical experts had lauded Malaysia for its quick and effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic, including by enforcing the movement control order.
– Bernama
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