The Anima Research Centre at Alken, in Belgium's Limburg Province, plans to test a Chinese vaccine against the coronavirus on about 400 people, according to reports by Flemish newspapers.

Only one pharmaceutical company, China's Clover Biopharmaceuticals, has filed an application to test a vaccine in Belgium, according to the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AFMPS). Clover Biopharmaceuticals is also the first such company to do so.

The Anima Research Center is one of the institutions accredited to test the Chinese vaccine. 

"We plan to inject 300 to 400 subjects in April," principal researcher Erik Buntinx was quoted as saying by a local publication, The Brussels Times.

The company is hopeful of beginning clinical trials later in March once it gets final approval from the AFMPS.

(With input from agencies)