WASHINGTON -- An inactivated COVID-19 vaccine developed by Chinese biopharmaceutical producer Sinovac Biotech Co., Ltd. could be effective in stopping COVID-19, Bloomberg reported.

"In terms of timing, the company was ahead of most other potential vaccines, including the new models meant to facilitate strong protection and fast production," Bloomberg said in an article titled "China's Vaccine Front-Runner Aims to Beat Covid the Old-Fashioned Way" published Monday.

Though Sinovac's method, which is based on a similar principle to 18th-century British scientist Edward Jenner's smallpox vaccine, "is relatively crude," Bloomberg wrote, "it just might work and it could be easier to use than the never-before-tried approaches of other companies."

"We've got to learn about history and not forget what's worked in the past," Michael Kinch, a vaccine specialist at Washington University in St. Louis, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

"Don't get fancy when simple will do it for you just as well," Kinch added.

Beijing-based Sinovac, a Nasdaq-listed Chinese biopharmaceutical manufacturer, began final-stage trials in July on its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine, called CoronaVac.