Will we have a vaccine available next month?
Rampant developments are being made in the world of vaccines. While Moderna Inc., University of Oxford and Indian companies like Bharat Biotech International Limited are busy with different phases of testing, Russian vaccine is said to have cleared two important clinical trials. This could mean that it may be one of the first vaccines available for public use, reports suggest.
The news follows after Russia announced the completion of phase I/II of its vaccine and started discharging patients from the first batch.
Russia is the 4th worst affected nation by COVID-19
According to experts, Russia is hopeful of starting phase III of its unnamed vaccine candidate in the country, as well as expedite the process in countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
With over 7,00,000 reported cases, Russia is the fourth-worst affected nation struck by the pandemic globally. Owing to the crisis, Russian President Vladimir Putin has made vaccine development a priority.
What is the status of clinical trials ?
While phase III is considered to be one of the most crucial phases of testing while developing any vaccine, Russian epidemiologists have asserted that they can make the vaccine available for the public as early as next month, while simultaneously conducting phase III trials.
"It will be imperative that additional clinical research of an approved vaccine be conducted simultaneously," announced the Russian health minister at a press briefing.
Phase III usually involves a larger pool of candidates (running into thousands) to test out any triggers, side-effects, weigh pros and cons which could come in the process of mass inoculation.
The country is testing two versions of a homegrown vaccine which make use of an adenovirus vector to spike up immunity in the body when the vaccine is introduced. The first group had 18 volunteers, while the second one involved 23 volunteers, who were dosed with a liquid and powder form of the vaccine and isolated at the facility in a careful manner.
The vaccine model, which has been developed in Gamaleya Institute has received a large amount of funding from officials and till now, at least 5 countries have expressed interest in producing it. Officials are hopeful that they will be able to produce up to 20 million doses of its vaccine to meet domestic needs before the year ends.
Russian scientists were just week accused of forging and stealing data from western laboratories to speed up work on the development of their vaccine.
Is it safe for use?
The vaccine's efficacy has been much debated ever since news of the trial completion was announced, leading Russian officials to declare that the vaccine is absolutely "safe" to use and meets the market standards. It was also rumoured that some of the scientists who made a prototype injected the vaccine on themselves as well initially to test it out.
"The safety of the vaccine is confirmed. It corresponds to the safety of those vaccines that are currently on the market. The further vaccine development plan is already being determined by the developer's strategy, including the complexity of the epidemiological situation with the virus and the possibility of scaling up production," said a leading Russian scientist involved in the study.