Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- Health experts note that it is too early to assess which of the 8 candidate vaccines currently undergoing phase III trials will be safe and effective in the fight against COVID-19. Moreover, 4 of these vaccines are being developed by China, 3 are funded under the Operation Warp Speed project and 1 is being developed by Australia.

Experts admit that China has a "more balanced portfolio of vaccines." Vaccines being developed in the US and the EU are aimed at creating immunity to a portion of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as the spike protein. China, along with such vaccines, is developing several inactivated viral vaccines that use the dead version of the virus to teach the body to resist the live version.

In the meantime, experts believe that some vaccine candidates from Operation Warp Speed are not worth the hype that was hyped around them. In a trial of a vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, out of 543, only 35 people. neutralizing antibodies were found.

China has already granted a patent for the Ad5-nCoV coronavirus vaccine developed by the Academy of Military Medical Sciences in partnership with CanSino Biologics. Russia, Chile, UAE, Brazil, Indonesia and Argentina are taking part in the vaccine trial. In this case, experts predict that the Chinese vaccine may be the first to successfully pass phase III trials.

After vaccinating its own population, it is quite possible that China will use it for political influence or political retribution. China is already using the vaccine as a diplomatic tool, promising first access to countries of strategic interest: 1) the Philippines and Indonesia, which have territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea; 2) Brazil and Peru - important political and economic partners in Latin America; 3) African countries, where China has invested heavily in the oil and mining industry, has increased its military presence.

Overall, as tensions between the US and China grew, the race to develop a vaccine turned into a nationalist competition for power and prestige. Global health could be another battleground in their game of becoming a great power.