While some potential vaccines have emerged in the global race to find a way to stop the spread of Covid-19, there seems to be a prestige battle going on between the US and China over which country can immunise its citizens first. As of Tuesday, Covid-19 has affected more than 7.11 million people globally and resulted in 406,225 deaths.
Just days after President Donald Trump said the US has already produced two million doses that are “ready to go” if they “check out for safety”, China recently claimed that the country could have a Covid-19 vaccine as early as autumn.In other developments, scientists from London’s Imperial College said they hope to bring a low-cost vaccine to the world early next year via a social enterprise — a company that seeks to do good as well as making a profit.As of now, there are 224 candidate vaccines in development globally, according to the data collected by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). While North America has the largest number of projects — 49 per cent — China is the furthest along the track with five vaccines in phase II human trials, more than any other country.
