Three COVID-19 vaccines have entered phase II clinical trials in Beijing, a municipal health official said on Sunday.

Xu Qiang, head of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, said that Beijing has arranged 21 science and technology projects in response to the novel coronavirus epidemic.

Five innovative drugs have been approved for clinical trials and all of them have entered phase II clinical studies, he said at a routine press conference on COVID-19 prevention and control.

According to a three-year (2020-2022) action plan on strengthening the emergency management system for public health security in the Chinese capital, Xu said Beijing will establish a linkage mechanism for prevention, clinical practice, scientific research, treatment and project emergency approval.

Beijing will accelerate the research and development of diagnostic reagents, drugs, vaccines and medical equipment and support pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturers in expanding their capacity to meet the increasing demands.

It will improve the layout of biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) labs.

Xu said that Beijing will strengthen the supportive role of new technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, 5G and the Internet of Things in epidemic monitoring and analysis, virus tracing, prevention, control and treatment.

(Cover image via VCG)