China's Medical Products Administration has given green light to five Chinese coronavirus vaccines for human trials, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.

More vaccines are expected to get approval for clinical trials soon, the ministry said.

Scientists around the globe are racing for a vaccine for COVID-19, which has claimed over 450,000 lives so far.

Around 10 potential vaccines are now undergoing human trials, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Earlier this week, a Chinese COVID-19 candidate vaccine passed phase-one and phase-two clinical trials, showing no "serious adverse reactions" with all volunteers generating antibodies after two doses in 28 days.

The WHO has expressed hope that hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus vaccine can be produced this year and two billion doses by the end of 2021.

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WHO hopes for hundreds of millions of vaccine doses this year

(Cover: An illustration featuring small bottles labeled "Vaccine", April 10, 2020. /Reuters )