China has started the first phase of a clinical trial for a Covid-19 (coronavirus) vaccine, records show, as the world’s scientists race to find a way to combat the deadly pathogen. After the green light from Beijing, 108 people aged 18-60 from Wuhan have been injected with a potential vaccine developed by a Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics and Chinese military. According to experts, the volunteers – aged from 18 to 60 and in good health – were divided into three groups of 36 and then given either a low, medium or high dose of the vaccine at a facility owned by the Wuhan armed police force.

Wang Junzhi, a fellow at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said to Science Daily that “after receiving their injections, the participants would spend 14 days in quarantine under close medical observation.

There may have been diarrhoea, high temperatures and a fair bit of apprehension, but 108 people from Wuhan can proudly say that this week they became the first in the country to be injected with a possible vaccine for the novel coronavirus”, said the resercher. Media also confirmed earlier reports that the first person to receive a shot of the possible vaccine was Chen Wei, a major general and military scientist who is also heading up the trial.