Last Updated on July 13, 2020, 6:53 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Russia has become the first country to finish human trials for the COVID-19 vaccine. Sechenov University in Russia has completed the world’s first clinical trials of coronavirus vaccine on humans successfully.
Vadim Tarasov, the Institute for Biotechnology and Translational Medicine’s director, confirmed the development of completion of the human trials.
Tarasov said that Sechenov University had completed tests on volunteers of the world’s first vaccine against coronavirus successfully.
He said that the university had started the clinical trials of the vaccine for COVID-19 on June 18. The first group of volunteers from the tests would be discharged on Wednesday and the second group of volunteers will be discharged on July 20. The said vaccine was produced in Russia by Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology.
An earlier statement issued by the Russian Defense Ministry stated that the data which was obtained by the Gamalei National Research Center for Microbiology and Epidemiology shows and proves that the volunteers of the first and second groups of human trials are forming an immune response after they have injections of the vaccine against the coronavirus.
Alexander Lukashev, The director of the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases at Sechenov University, said that the safety of this vaccine, in comparison to the safety of other medicines available in the market, is confirmed.
With this, Russia has become the first country to complete human clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine, and the results have proved the effectiveness of the medication.
However, there was no further information on when this vaccine would enter the stage of commercial production.
According to the World Health Organisation, there are at least 21 vaccines currently under key trials.
According to the Johns Hopkins University of the US, as of Sunday morning, the global number of COVID-19 cases stood at 12,681,472, while the death toll is at 564,420.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
