Russia Developing Vaccine Against Coronavirus Detected in China - Head of Consumer Welfare Agency

Earlier, it was confirmed that the death toll from the new coronavirus in China rose to 9 and that 473 more people remained in hospital.

Russia is developing a vaccine against the coronavirus detected in China, the head of the Russian Consumer Welfare Agency said.

"...the development of a vaccine is underway. Every time we have a mutation (of a virus), we start developing a vaccine immediately," Anna Popova, the head of Rospotrebnadzor, said.

This comes amid the continuing spread of the new coronavirus which was first detected in China earlier this month and has already claimed the lives of nine people; over 400 others are currently in hospital. The virus has also been registered in the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand and Japan.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday amid fears that the new virus may turn into a pandemic. 

Travelers wearing face masks gather at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020

© AP Photo / Ng Han Guan

According to China's Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the virus is transmitted from person to person through coughing or sneezing.  

In 2002, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which also emerged from China, killed 800 people around the globe.