Russia has been working dedicatedly to develop a coronavirus vaccine for quite some time now. In the latest, it has been reported that Russia is all set to register the world’s first covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday. The country will start mass vaccination in October this year. While the development might bring hope amid the increasing coronavirus outbreak, it should be noted that the vaccine hasn’t been clinically proven completely.
Safety concerns over the vaccine has been raised from several quarters including the WHO. Its fast-track approach has also been questioned by Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease specialist.
The Covid-19 vaccine that the country is planning to register this week has been developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.
“The available data of laboratory and instrumental studies allow us to speak about the safety and good tolerance of the vaccine,” the defence ministry said in a statement.
Clinical trials of the vaccine began on June 18 which included 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed immunity. The first group was discharged on July 15 and the second group on July 20.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has accepted Russia’s offer of its coronavirus vaccine, volunteering to take the first shot as a gesture of trust and gratitude.
“When the vaccine arrives, I will have myself injected in public. Experiment on me first, that’s fine with me,” he said in a briefing Monday night.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization has warned Russia against the vaccine, stating established guidelines for producing safe and effective vaccine has not been taken in account by the country. WHO has said all vaccine candidate should go through full stages of testing before launching itself into the market.
Of the six Covid-19 vaccine candidates that have reached the Phase 3 level according to the WHO, three are from China and the other three, include the ones developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, Moderna, and one jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
