‘I hope it works’: Head of China CDC admits he’s been injected with experimental coronavirus vaccine

China says it is exploring eight potential vaccines

A leading Chinese immunologist, and head of the country’s centre for disease control and prevention, claims to have been injected with a potential Covid-19 vaccine.

Dr Gao Fu, a dean at the state-backed Chinese Academy of Sciences, said on Sunday he had been given the treatment but did not confirm how it was administered or when he took it.

China says it is currently exploring eight vaccine candidates – more than any other country in the world. Dr Fu did not confirm which of these potential treatments he had taken.

“I’m going to reveal something undercover: I am injected with one of the vaccines,” Gao Fu said in a webinar hosted by Alibaba Health, an arm of the Chinese e-commerce giant, and Cell Press, an American publisher of scientific journals.

“I hope it will work.”

Gao Fu said he took the potential vaccine in a bid to encourage the Chinese public it is safe once approved.

He did not reveal which treatment he had taken because he did not want to be accused of “doing some kind of propaganda” for a particular company.

The race to find a vaccine against coronavirus has intensified in recent weeks, with a number of companies vying to be the first to get a vaccine on the market.

Last week, the UK government announced it had secured a deal for early access to 90 million doses of “promising” vaccine candidates, 30 million of which are set to come from a Pfizer and BioNTech candidate.

Hours later researchers at the University of Oxford released a statement saying that their candidate – produced in collaboration with AstaZeneca – was safe and produced an immune response.

Pfizer, a US-based pharmaceutical giant and BioNTech, a German biotech company, have since announced they are to launch an advanced trial on their potential vaccine.

On Monday, the firms said they hoped to produce 100 million doses of the treatment by the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, Monderna Inc – a US-based biotech firm – also announced on Monday that it is set to launch an advanced stage trial that will include 30,0000 participants.

The announcements come as the pandemic continues to accelerate around the world, with fears of a second wave in Europe.

The resumption of travel across the continent has lead to a surge of cases in Belgium, Spain, France and Germany.

Over the weekend, UK government officials announced that all travellers arriving in the country from Spain would be asked to self-isolate for two weeks.

More than 16 million people around the world have been infected with Covid-19, according to John Hopkins figures. More than 650,000 deaths have been recorded while 9.5 million people have recovered from the disease.

Additional reporting Associated Press