BEIJING — Some vaccines against the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) developed by Chinese higher education institutions are expected to enter clinical trials or provided for emergency use as soon as possible, a Chinese official said Tuesday.

The ministry has called on universities and colleges with advantages, as well as scientific research institutions and related enterprises to speed up research on the COVID-19 vaccine since the Chinese New Year

The flu viral vector-based vaccine is currently under animal experimentation for safety and efficacy tests and scheduled to apply for the clinical trial by the end of April, Lei Chaozi, an official with the Ministry of Education, said at a press conference in Beijing.

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The ministry has called on universities and colleges with advantages, including Peking University, Tsinghua University and Xiamen University, as well as scientific research institutions and related enterprises to speed up research on the COVID-19 vaccine since the traditional Chinese New Year, Lei said.

He added that vaccine research conducted by Chinese universities and colleges has been pushed forward following regulations and laws as expected.

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