(Yicai Global) Sept. 7 -- Three hundred million doses of the Covid-19 vaccine co-developed by Chinese vaccine maker CanSino Biologics and the Academy of Military Science of the People's Liberation Army will be produced a year once Phase Three clinical trials are completed, the AMS team leader told Xinhua News Agency today.

The recombinant adenovirus vaccine received the country’s first Covid-19 vaccine patent in August. It has already completed Phase Two clinical trials but needs to complete Phase Three trials in order to go to market.

The teams have been preparing for mass production since Phase One trials and they are ready to start immediately once the Phase Three tests have been approved, Chen said.

People who have direct contact with the virus, such as front-line medical staffers, virus researchers and customs inspectors, will be the first to be vaccinated, and those with underlying medical conditions will be the priority, Chen said.

Further research is necessary to determine the effective duration of the vaccine, Chen said. Phase One of clinical trials only began in March this year, so there is only data for half a year. Jabs given in March remain effective so far, he added.

"What we are developing is a genetically engineered vaccine,” Chen said. There is very little chance that the gene segments we use will change, and in case of genetic variation, we can use the current vaccine as the basis to make a more targeted vaccine, he added.

Rival China National Pharmaceutical Group also has two inactivated vaccines, which use a killed as opposed to an attenuated form of the virus, are also in development and could be on the market as soon as the end of this year, the Beijing-based firm recently said. It should also be able to produce 300 million doses a year, it said.

Editor: Kim Taylor