RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Russia is closer to becoming the first country to begin distributing a coronavirus vaccine to the world. The country announced yesterday that it has completed part of the clinical trials required to prove the efficacy of the immunization developed at the initiative of the Russian government.
“The research has been completed and the vaccine has proven to be safe,” Yelena Smolyarchuk, head of Sechenov University’s clinical research center, told the state news agency TASS.
The approved vaccine was developed by the Gamalei National Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Research. According to the institution’s director, Alexander Gintsburg, the vaccine is expected to “enter civilian circulation” between August 12th and 24th.
This distribution will be equivalent to a stage 3 test, given that the subjects who are administered the vaccine will be monitored, reported the RIA news agency. Stage 1 and 2 trials typically check the safety of a drug before it progresses to stage 3, which tests its efficacy on a larger group of volunteers.
The Russian Ministry of Health will conduct these last biochemical tests for the vaccine, but hopes to complete the process by September, the same month in which Gintsburg plans to begin mass production by private laboratories.
Overall, of the 19 experimental vaccines against Covid-19 in human trials, only two are in final stage 3 trials – one from China’s Sinopharm and another from AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which runs part of the trials in Brazil. The Chinese Sinovac Biotech should become the third by the end of this month and is also tested in Brazil.
The Russian version
The Russian vaccine is close to distribution because clinical trials began in June. The Sechenov University has grouped 38 paid volunteers for the trial. Some of them will be discharged on Wednesday, July 15th, when they will have completed 28 days in isolation. The intention was to protect them from other potential infections.
Volunteers are aged between 18 and 65 and will be monitored for a further six months.
Also last month, the Russian army initiated another clinical trial front for the vaccine. The trial will run for two months and is still ongoing.
Russia ranks fourth in the world with the highest number of people infected by the coronavirus. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the country has over 730,000 people infected and has now passed 11,000 deaths from Covid-19.