Russia Approves Second Covid-19 Vaccine

Russia has granted regulatory approval to a second Covid-19 vaccine—even though the drug has yet to begin large scale Phase-III trials—two months after it greenlit another vaccine that experts expressed caution over due to lack of adequate safety and efficacy data.

A vaccine developed by the Vector State Virology and Biotechnology Center in Siberia has been registered, President Vladimir Putin said in televised comments Wednesday.

“We need to increase the production of our first and now our second vaccine,” Putin said. “First of all, we should supply the domestic market.” Russia will also work with foreign partners to boost output, he said.

The peptide-based vaccine, named EpiVacCorona, is the second to be licensed for use in Russia.

A shot developed by Moscow's Gamaleya Institute, Sputnik V, was licensed for domestic use in August.

A large-scale human trial of EpiVacCorona is likely to begin in November or December, the TASS news agency cited the consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, which oversees the institute, as saying this month.

Vector’s EpiVacCorona vaccine was tested on only a limited number of people before receiving provisional registration.

There were 100 volunteers in Phase 1 and 2 trials and all feel fine, Vector General Director Rinat Maksyutov said last week.