Beijing is desperately attempting to win the race to create a vaccine to the disease that is paralysing the world. Chinese president Xi Jinping would use a vaccine success as a political triumph amid accusations that he was responsible for covering up the initial outbreak in Wuhan. China is leading the world with the number of vaccines that it is attempting to bring to human trials.
The country is developing eight out of the ten coronavirus vaccines currently in the research and development phase.
Leading Chinese scientist Gao Fu spoke of his nervousness on trying the vaccines at a conference organised by Alibaba Health.
He said: “I’m going to reveal something undercover.
“I am injected with one of the vaccines.
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“As a scientist, you’ve got to be brave.
“If even we didn’t do it, how can we persuade the whole world, all the people, the public, to be vaccinated?”
Mr Gao is the head of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention which is based in Wuhan.
Last month, Mr Gao coauthored a research paper that described how a vaccines “inactivated” the coronavirus in a lab and then killed it.
It is not known whether this particular vaccine is the one that Mr Gao was injected with.
The vaccines is being developed by an affiliate of the state-owned company SinoPharm.
Science publication Cell editor Andrew Rennekamp was one of the moderators at Mr Gao’s webinar.
He said: “This is a brave thing to do.
“It shows his faith in what he believes is the safety of the vaccine.
“It also shows his commitment to science and to public health.”