--- title: "China Is Giving People a COVID Vaccine That Isn’t Done Being Tested" description: "A letter sent out to employees of Chinese state-owned travel companies claims that two experimental coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective." date: "2020-07-31" modified: "2020-07-31" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/china-giving-people-covid-vaccine-not-done-tested" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "Pathogens" - "Viruses" tags: - "china" - "coronavirus" - "covid19" - "vaccine" --- # China Is Giving People a COVID Vaccine That Isn’t Done Being Tested ![A letter sent out to employees of Chinese state-owned travel companies claims that two experimental coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective.]() *\Image: cottonbro via Pexels\* A letter sent out to employees of Chinese state-owned travel companies claims that two experimental coronavirus vaccines are safe and effective — despite not having completed phase three clinical trials, as [*Quartz* reports](). Phase three trials generally involve administering vaccine candidates to tens of thousands of participants, to establish their safety and effectiveness, before clearing them for widespread use. Experts warned *Quartz* that claims about the safety and effectiveness of a vaccine shouldn't be made until thorough testing is complete. "Even if the vaccine itself is benign, if people think they are protected when they are not, they can expose themselves to risks they would otherwise avoid and increase their chances of falling ill," Alex John London, director of the Center for Ethics and Policy at Carnegie Mellon University, told *Quartz*. Three out of six pharmaceutical companies currently conducting phase three trials of coronavirus vaccines are in China. The letter to the state-owned travel companies was penned by a subsidiary of one of these companies, called SinoPharm, according to *Quartz*. The company began late stage trials in Abu Dhabi involving up to 15,000 volunteers earlier this month, [according to *Reuters*](). Chinese authorities claim that a vaccine will be ready for widespread use before the end of the year, [*The Wall Street Journal* reports]() — an extremely tight deadline that, realistically, may not be met. In the case of SinoPharm, phase three trials will take anywhere between three to six months, *Reuters* reports. If proven clinically safe and effective — still a big if — the next hurdle will be to mass produce and distribute the vaccine, which is a major challenge in itself. ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()