Donald Trump has criticized the Chinese for initially hiding the extent of Coronavirus spread, says reports.
US President Donald Trump criticized China over Coronavirus spread
The race for a coronavirus vaccine is at lightning speed across the globe, with China and the US trying to cross the finish line before the other. As both sides blame each other, a vaccine would be the only key to get out of this pandemic and developing one first would be a major geopolitical victory.
US President Donald Trump expressed a willingness on Tuesday to work even with China or other countries to bring a successful coronavirus vaccine to the United States, despite rising tensions between Beijing and Washington.
“We’re willing to work with anybody that is going to get us a good result,” Trump said when asked if the administration would collaborate with China on a vaccine for Americans, whether China is first to develop one or not.
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The comments came a day after specialists said an antibody against the coronavirus created by China’s CanSino Biologics Inc (6185.HK) and China’s military appeared to be safe and induced immune responses in most subjects in a closely-watched mid-stage study
The CanSino candidate is one of a handful of vaccines that have shown some promise in early human testing. Others gearing up for such trials include vaccines from US-based Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) and Germany’s BioNTech SE (22UAy.F), in partnership with American drugmaker Pfizer Inc (PFE.N).
Data from a combined early/mid-stage trial of a vaccine candidate being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and British-Swedish company AstraZeneca (AZN.L) was also released on Monday.
Trump also said a potential vaccine is going to arrive much sooner than expected and become available immediately as the US military will assist in distributing it.
The novel coronavirus pandemic started in China last December in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province. The United States has criticized China for initially hiding the extent of the spread of the virus. Trump has claimed that China’s influence in the World Health Organization allowed the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan to morph into a global pandemic when the disease should have been contained within China.
