RUSSIA'S COVID-19 VACCINE 'SPUTNIK V' UNDERGOING PHASE 3 CLINICAL TRIALS IN MOSCOW

 in-cyprus 18 September 2020 - by Maria Bitar

Russia has launched post-registration Phase 3 trials of its coronavirus vaccine among volunteers in Moscow earlier this month.

The first batch of Sputnik V, Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate arrived in three outpatient clinics in the capital, the municipal clinics No. 2, No. 220, and No. 62. on September 5.

Russian officials said these clinics would conduct the 180-day human trials for the potential vaccine that will involve as many as 40,000 people.

Deputy head doctor of the City Polyclinic No. 220, Vladimir Tereshchenko explained the processes that volunteers went through in Phase 3 trials in the clinic.

He said the first stage is filling out a questionnaire. Then the volunteers are vaccinated after some tests and final checks, regarding their health conditions. “After vaccination, volunteers are checked through an electronic device that provides data transfer from the patients”, Tereshchenko added.

The vaccine is stored in special freezers capable of maintaining temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees centigrade.

Over 250 Moscow residents over the past five days have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, the vast majority of them are in good health, the Russian TASS News Agency quoted the country’s anti-coronavirus crisis centre as saying on Monday.

Earlier in July, Russia’s Healthcare Ministry issued accreditations to these clinics, allowing them to conduct screenings and human trials of the Sputnik V vaccine.

On August 11, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin announced the country’s bid to become the first country to register a novel coronavirus vaccine.

The Russian COVID-19 vaccine candidate Sputnik V was developed by the Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Russia.

(Reuters)