Russia Launches Second COVID-19 Vaccine Trial In Humans

A state virology institute in Russia has started testing the country's second experimental COVID-19 vaccine in humans.

The local Russian news agency reported on Tuesday, July 28, that first of five volunteers have been injected with a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to mark the official beginning of the human trials. All of the volunteers were feeling fine after being injected with the dose.

The trial is being spearheaded by the Vector Virology Institute in Siberia, which itself is overseen by consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor.

The next volunteer in the trial is expected to receive a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Russia on July 30th. It is known that the coronavirus vaccine being tested by the institute has a peptide structure and has been developed using a platform that was originally built for the production of the Ebola vaccine.

The Russian government register that maintains the data of all clinical trials running in the country shows that the human trial of experimental coronavirus vaccine is expected to include about 100 volunteers between the age groups of 18 and 60. The institute is known to be working on six potential COVID-19 vaccines.

A few weeks earlier, the Gamaleya Institute, which is a separate research facility in Moscow, announced positive results for its adenovirus-based vaccine. The large-scale Phase III clinical trial of this vaccine is expected to initiate in August.

The scientific community and drug manufacturers across the world are working on 100 different types of vaccines, out of which more than 10 are currently in human trials. As per the data by the World Health Organization (WHO), four vaccines are currently in the last stage of human trials. Out of these, four COVID-19 vaccines have been developed by China and one by the U.K.

Meanwhile, Russia is expected to become the first country in the world to have its COVID-19 vaccine approved for human use. The country, at least, intends to become the first one to get coronavirus vaccine approved, despite looming concerns over safety and efficiency.

Some have even questioned the timeline of the vaccine and say that there is no clarity if the “country has cut essential corners in development.” There is no scientific data available as yet and it is anticipated that the researchers are under pressure by Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, so that the country can emerge as a global scientific force.