While other nations are still at a race on who is the first to release a COVID-19 vaccine for public us, China has claimed that it has begun administering an experimental vaccine in high-risk demographics back in July.

If the claims were true, Beijing would be three weeks ahead of Russia in releasing a vaccine. However, neither of the vaccines from the two countries has passed the standard clinical trials which are needed.

According to The Washington Post, on Saturday, health officials from Beijing announced that they have administered an experimental COVID-19 vaccine to employees of state-owned companies and a number of medical workers. The officials also clarified that the usage of the vaccine was under the "urgent use protocols" since late July.

Meanwhile, the debate on whether ordinary drug-development protocols should be overlooked in order to get treatment and vaccines against COVID-19 in the market has been a topic of conversation for government and health officials worldwide. Many have stated that they would not bypass any protocol in developing their vaccine, however, many have been proven able to do so as the pandemic continues to plague nations and affect their economy.

The announcement from Beijing came after the diplomatic controversy over experimental vaccines. This is after Papua New Guinea claimed that after administering experimental vaccines on a group of Chinese miners Beijing has turned its back.

On the other hand, in the United States, Trump has called out its own Food and Drug administration claiming that the organization was delaying the development of a vaccine from the US. He also added that no substantial detail was provided by the FDA on the delays.

On Sunday, succumbing to the pressures from the administration the FDA gave an emergency authorization for the use of convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19 patients.

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Nations in a race to release vaccine

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), if the standard approval process for newly developed vaccines is followed it usually takes years before a vaccine is released. The process also requires a large sample size in placebo-controlled randomized trials in order to make sure it is effective and safe.

However, nations such as the US and China have made promises to release a vaccine in the market by the end of 2020 or early in 2021. With both nations to do so, it has been noted for them to do so large factory investments need to be ready before the safety tests for the vaccines are done.

Now, given the claims from both Russia and China, the race has become more time-constrained since citizens have been asked to get the untested vaccine as a symbol of their patriotism.

The claims from China comes after the announcement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin that Moscow is the first to have an approved COVID-19 vaccine. But Putin's vaccine has received criticisms from health care experts worldwide questioning its safety and integrity.

Meanwhile, China has announced that the experimental vaccine has also been administered to most of its health executives, including the head of its CDC. The country also stated that those who received the vaccines have reported no adverse effects as of the moment, South China Morning Post reported.

Related article: FDA Gives Emergency Authorization on Usage of Plasma for COVID-19 Treatment