Russian COVID Vaccine Produces Antibodies, Researchers Support. What adverse effects have occurred, according to a study published in The Lancet News, Foreign News | Freedom

Russia drew criticism when it announced the world’s first approved coronavirus vaccine in August, just before the completion of crucial studies in the third phase of testing.

In phase 1 and 2 studies of the vaccine, called Sputnik V, all 76 study participants developed antibodies against the virus that causes Covid-19, according to a report published Friday in The Lancet.

The amount of antibodies generated by the vaccine was similar to the immune response humans had after natural recovery after Covid-19 disease, the researchers say.

The vaccine has often caused side effects such as fever, headache, and joint pain. Those side effects were mostly mild, the study writes, without specifying how long these side effects lasted.

These results do not yet prove that the Russian vaccine provides effective protection against infection with the new coronavirus.

Specifically, scientists who were not involved in the study said that while the results are a positive sign, only the largest phase 3 studies can confirm whether the vaccine actually prevents Covid-19 disease.

The phase 3 study began last week in Russia with a sample of 40,000 people.

However, Russia has already started distributing this vaccine, which is administered by two successive injections, every three weeks, to people in risk groups. At the same time, Moscow announced that it wants to start mass vaccination of citizens in October.

The race to develop a vaccine

The world’s governments and major pharmaceutical companies are competing for a truly international race to develop a vaccine to end the COVID-19 pandemic, a disease that has already infected some 26 million people and caused more than 850,000 deaths. Worldwide. .

According to the WHO, a total of 176 possible vaccines are being developed around the world, of which 34 have entered clinical trials, that is, they are being tested in humans. Of these, eight have reached phase 3, which is the most advanced.

Tens of thousands of participants are conducting phase 3 clinical trials and several pharmaceutical companies, including the British group AstraZeneca and the American groups Moderna and Pfizer, are expected to find out before the end of this year whether their potential COVID-19 vaccines they are efficient and safe.

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