BEIJING -- A Chinese inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate has been proved safe and tolerable and can induce a quick immune response, according to the findings from early and mid-stage clinical trials published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The level of antibodies induced by the vaccine was lower than those in people who had recovered from COVID-19, whereas it was capable of protecting the human body from infections caused by the virus, the findings said.

The vaccine, CoronaVac, was developed by a Chinese biopharmaceutical producer Sinovac Biotech.

It was tested in randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled phase-1 and phase-2 clinical trials involving more than 700 healthy adults aged 18 to 59.

Vaccination is done with two doses taken 14 days apart, and the vaccine candidate is effective, which makes it suitable for emergency use amid the pandemic, said Zhu Fengcai, one of the authors of the findings.

Zhu added that further research is needed to verify the duration of the immune response induced by the vaccination.

At present, the vaccine candidate is undergoing phase-3 clinical trials to confirm its effectiveness.