In the past few days, various information began to sound out that point to the fact that Russia is about to announce the approval of its vaccine against COVID-19, which would become the first certified vaccine in the world, and Russia will be the first country to have it and launch it.
According to various sources from CNN , Bloomberg and Reuters, Russia’s first potential COVID-19 vaccine will be approved by local authorities during the first half of August and will initially be administered only to front-line health workers.
Russia’s Acceleration Raises Doubts
The state research center in Moscow, the Gamaleya Institute, reportedly completed the first human tests of the adenovirus based vaccine COVID-19 a few days ago, and expects to begin large-scale testing in August.
The uncertainty lies in the fact that the vaccine is said to be on its way to being approved by Moscow’s regulatory authorities, something that will happen at the same time large-scale trials continue. This speed and sense of urgency has led some Western media outlets to question whether Russia is putting national prestige ahead of solid science and security.
It is expected that the Gamaleya vaccine will obtain a conditional registration in August, which means that it still has to carry out tests on another 1,600 people, according to the same statements by Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova in a televised meeting of officials with President Vladimir Putin. Production aims to start in September, he added.
Gamaleya hopes to start phase 3 trials of the vaccine in Russia, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates next week. According to sources, regulatory approval will be given during the first two weeks of August. August 10 is the expected date, but it will definitely be before August 15. “All the results so far are highly positive.”
On the other hand, the Russian news agency Interfax quoted “an informed source” saying that the vaccine will be registered from August 10 to 12 and will be administered from August 15. Health workers in Russia treating COVID-19 patients will be offered the opportunity to be vaccinated voluntarily shortly after the vaccine receives regulatory approval.
As for the criticism, the press service of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which coordinates and finances the vaccine development efforts in Russia, declined to comment, but its boss, Kirill Dmitriev, has denied that the push of the vaccine in Russia is compromising security.
Dmitriev also compared Russia’s success in developing the COVID-19 vaccine with the launch of Sputnik-1 in 1957 by the Soviet Union, the world’s first satellite.
“Just as Sputnik was the result of very talented Russian scientists … our vaccine research is based on the work of great Russian scientists,” he said.
Today, researchers and pharmaceutical companies in other countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and China, are also competing to develop vaccines. AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfizer have begun testing the last stage of the COVID-19 vaccines, and initial results of some of the human tests are expected to be released as early as October. Phase 3 tests often take months to complete, as they are key to better understanding the effectiveness of a medication.
