Russia says first COVID-19 vaccine is ready for use

Russia claimed on Tuesday that the Covid-19 vaccine developed with the Russian Defense Ministry has completed Phase 2 trials and ready for use.

“Russia’s first vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection, which was created by military specialists and scientists of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, is ready, said First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov.

According to Russian News Agency TASS, the Defense Ministry on Monday reported that jointly with the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology it had successfully completed clinical trials of the coronavirus vaccine on volunteers on the basis of the Burdenko Main Military Hospital.

In June, the ministry issued a permit for clinical tests of a liquid and freeze-dried vaccines developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology jointly with the Russian defense ministry’s research institute No48.

The liquid vaccine is being tested on 43 volunteers at the Burdenko Main Military Hospital and the freeze-dried vaccine is being tested at the Sechenov Medical University, also on 43 volunteers.

RDIF chief executive Kirill Dmitriev yesterday hoped to complete trials of a coronavirus vaccine in August and produce 200 million doses with foreign partners by the end of the year.

Dmitriev said he hoped the project would receive permission next month to begin production after the first phase of a vaccine trial was completed last week.

Dmitriev, 45, said he himself had been vaccinated and had developed “stable immunity” 20 days after the first shot.

Russia, which has the fourth-most coronavirus cases in the world, has accelerated the testing process and is funding production even before the vaccine is known to work, amid a global race to find defenses against the deadly pandemic that has wreaked economic havoc