“The first batches of the vaccine have already been shipped to test the supply chain, now we are checking the delivery system so that the staff are aware of it. The first small batches have already been shipped to all regions, the Leningrad region as well to receive [the vaccine] among the first. In fact, the first samples of the vaccine will be delivered on Monday, “Murashko said.
The development comes after a week when Russia released the first batch of the Sputnik V vaccine into civilian circulation, the Russian Health Ministry reported.
The Sputnik V Covid vaccine, which is developed by the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Ministry of Health, may obtain permission to release a batch of its vaccine for civilian use, said the institute’s deputy director of research. and associate member of the Russian Academy. of Sciences, Denis Logunov said previously, 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.
RDIF said on Friday that more than 1 billion people would receive its COVID-19 “Sputnik-V” vaccine in 2020-21, Interfax news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Russian children have returned to schools after attending online classes since the coronavirus pandemic swept through the country in late March.
Furthermore, the executive director of the country’s sovereign wealth fund said on Saturday that he is “delighted” that AstraZeneca has resumed testing of its Covid-19 vaccines, but said the suspension of the trials “clearly shows the fallacy of their approach.”
“Delighted that AstraZeneca has resumed trials. The suspension of trials clearly showed the fallacy of the approach, when entire countries rely exclusively on new and unproven platforms when choosing a vaccine for widespread use, including the use of an adenovirus vector. of mono or mRNA technology, “said Kirill Dmitriev, executive director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
AstraZeneca has resumed British clinical trials of its Covid-19 vaccine, one of the most advanced in development, after receiving the green light from safety watchdogs, the company said on Saturday.
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 its use until all tests and internationally approved regulatory steps 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 did not have serious side effects, The Lancet said.
However, a group of international scientists questioned the results of the Lancet medical journal, saying some of the findings seemed unlikely, Bloomberg reported.
The researchers raised concerns about seemingly identical levels of antibodies in several study participants who were inoculated with the experimental vaccine. This and other patterns in the data present “several different points of concern,” according to an open letter written by Temple University professor Enrico Bucci and signed by more than a dozen other scientists.
Amid reports of the possible vaccine, Russia recorded 5,449 COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 1,062,811, the country’s coronavirus response center said Sunday.
“Over the past 24 hours, Russia has confirmed 5,449 COVID-19 cases in 84 regions, of which 1,238 (23.5 percent) have been actively detected, and people show no clinical symptoms,” the center said. response in a statement.
With contributions from agencies
.
