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COVID vaccines

China's quest for mRNA vaccine hits stumbling block in omicron

Limited effectiveness of conventional shots puts 'zero-COVID' policy at risk

A medical worker walks past a sign at a coronavirus vaccination site in Beijing.   © Reuters

DALIAN, China -- China continues to struggle in developing a homegrown mRNA vaccine against COVID-19, with its front-runner failing to reach the market by the end of last year as hoped and now showing disappointing results against the highly infectious omicron variant.

The messenger RNA-based ARCoV vaccine candidate developed by Abogen Biosciences, Walvax Biotechnology and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences, now in Phase 3 clinical trials, encountered a snag shown in a paper published last month in the journal Cell Research.

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