In the midst of the race to produce a potential vaccine for the new coronavirus, Russia announced today that it will be able to vaccinate more than 1 billion people within 2020-2021, according to a report.
The country’s sovereign wealth fund said more than 1 billion people would receive its COVID-19 “Sputnik-V” vaccine in that period, Reuters reported, citing the Interfax news agency.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has already signed an agreement to export the vaccine abroad and in the Brazilian state of Bahia. Along with that, the state also aims to buy 50 million doses to market in Brazil, authorities said.
Another deal with Kazakhstan, which is set to buy more than 2 million doses initially and could then increase the volume to 5 million doses.
India will produce 300 million doses of the vaccine, according to reports.
The update comes against the backdrop of Russia previously announcing that it has successfully accelerated its recently released Sputnik V vaccine and is highly likely to release it for civilian use soon, according to a report.
The Sputnik V Covid vaccine, which is developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Ministry of Health, can obtain permission to release a batch of its vaccine for civilian use, said the institute’s deputy director of research. said an associate member of the Russian Federation. Academy of Sciences, Denis Logunov, according to a report.
A phase III trial is a large-scale one involving thousands of people (in Russia, 40,000) over a longer period of time.
Meanwhile, Russian children have returned to schools after attending online classes since the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country in late March.
To avoid another spike in cases, all teachers underwent mandatory virus tests before elementary and middle schools reopened on September 1. Temperature checks are carried out every morning and school hours have been modified to reduce the number of students attending at the same time.
Authorities also limited the number of children that can be together in school cafeterias and recreation areas are also limited.
Additionally, three Moscow outpatient clinics have received the first batch of a covid coronavirus vaccine for post-registration trials, the TASS news agency reported, citing Moscow Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova. Moscow residents can apply to participate in the study and be the first to get the vaccine, the deputy mayor said.
On August 11, Russia became the first country to license a Covid-19 vaccine, calling it “Sputnik V” in homage to the world’s first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union. But Western experts have warned against using it until all the internationally approved regulatory steps and tests have been taken. The vaccine is in phase 3 trials.
The vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in the early-stage trials, according to results previously published by The Lancet medical journal that were hailed by Moscow as a response to its critics.
Results from the two trials, conducted in June-July this year and involving 76 participants, showed that 100% of the participants developed antibodies to the new coronavirus and no serious side effects, The Lancet said.
With contributions from agencies
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