As Human Trials Complete In Russia, Doctors & Teachers First In Line For COVID-19 Vaccine

In Russia, a potential coronavirus vaccine has finished clinical trials in a Moscow lab and there could be mass vaccinations campaigns.

Russia is preparing to start a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus in October, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said on Saturday, RIA news agency reported.

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In the mass vaccination drive, authorities are considering getting doctors and teachers to be the first in line.

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko also said Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, a state research facility in Moscow, had completed clinical trials of the vaccine and paperwork is being prepared to register it.

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"The vaccine against coronavirus infection, developed by the Gamaleya Institute, has completed clinical trials," Murashko told reporters, answering a question about whether the clinical trials of the vaccine are officially completed, according to Sputnik News.

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Russia¡¯s first potential COVID-19 vaccine is likely to secure local regulatory approval in August and be administered to health workers soon thereafter. The Gamaleya Institute has been working on an adenovirus-based vaccine.

However, the speed at which Russia is moving to roll it out has prompted some Western media to question whether Moscow is putting national prestige before science and safety, reports Reuters.

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Several candidates for the coronavirus vaccine are undergoing clinical trials and showing promising results. If what the Russian Minister is saying has any truth to it, this vaccine would be the first effective ready-to-use COVID-19 vaccine.

Reuters

Russia said that it plans to register a coronavirus vaccine between August 10 and 12 August. Russia is fourth on the list of countries with most number of COVID-19 cases, only behind the USA, Brazil and India.

More than 100 possible vaccines are being developed around the world to try to stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

At least four are in final Phase III human trials, according to World Health Organization (WHO) data, including three developed in China and one in Britain.

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All Inputs Reuters