'At war time speed': China leads Covid vaccine race with 2 in final stage

Its success in driving down Covid-19 infections makes it harder to conduct large-scale vaccine trials, and so far only a few other countries have agreed to work with it

China is forging ahead in the race to develop a vaccine to help control the Covid-19 pandemic, with Sinovac Biotech's experimental vaccine set to become the country's second and the world's third to enter final stage testing later this month.

While a laggard in the global vaccine industry, China, where the new coronavirus is thought to have originated, has brought state, military and private sectors together in a quest to combat a disease that has killed over 500,000 people worldwide.

Many other countries, including the United States, are coordinating closely with the private sector to try to win the vaccine development race,