MOSCOW, Aug 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russia said it would
start clinical trials of its controversial coronavirus vaccine next
week, involving tens of thousands of people.
President Vladimir Putin said earlier this month that Russia had
become the first country to register a coronavirus vaccine, though the
announcement was met with caution from scientists and the World Health
Organization who said it still needed a rigorous safety review.
Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, which finances the vaccine project,
said in a statement that tests of the “immunogenicity and
safety of the Sputnik V vaccine” will begin next week involving more
than 40,000 people.
It said the tests were the equivalent of the Phase 3 trials that
other vaccines are undergoing.
Kirill Dmitriyev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund,
told an online briefing that the vaccination of at-risk groups,
including medical personnel, would also start next week on a voluntary
basis.
More than 20 countries have made requests to purchase over a
billion doses of the vaccine, he said, adding that Russia had
agreements with several countries to produce it.
He said mass vaccinations in Russia are expected to start in
October and the first foreign deliveries in November or December.
The vaccine — named after the pioneering 1950s Soviet satellite —
was announced with much fanfare in Russia but drew warnings from
Western scientists that Moscow may be moving too quickly.
Dmitriyev said scepticism was starting to wane.
“We have seen a significant change in tone from the WHO. At first,
yes, they did not have enough information on the Russian vaccine, now
official information has been sent and they will evaluate it,” he
said.
But he added: “We do not see any obstacle for individual regulators
to approve the Russian vaccine without the approval of the WHO.”
Russia had registered more than 942,000 confirmed coronavirus
infections as of Thursday, the fourth-highest number after the United
States, Brazil and India, and more than 16,000 deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES
