COVID-19: Indonesia begins human trials of China-made vaccine

JAKARTA: Human trials of a Chinese-made coronavirus vaccine began in Indonesia as part of a collaboration between pharmaceutical company Bio Farma and China’s Sinovac Biotech on Tuesday. The vaccine candidate, produced by Sinovac Biotech, is among just a few in the world to enter Phase 3 clinical trials, or large-scale testing on humans — the last step before regulatory approval. The treatment, known as CoronaVac, is already being tested on 9,000 health workers in Brazil, the second-hardest-hit country in the coronavirus pandemic after the United States. Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country, has been struggling to contain its mounting virus cases, with more than 127,000 confirmed infections and over 5,700 deaths. But the true scale of the public health crisis is believed to be much bigger, given the Southeast Asian nation's low testing rates. The governor of Indonesia's most populous province, West Java, was among 1,620 volunteers slated to ta...