Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced that the country has registered the second Covid-19 vaccine, according to media reports.
Russia became the first country to give regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine in August when Sputnik V was officially registered ahead of large-scale clinical trial, drawing criticism from some quarters in the scientific community.
The second Russian vaccine to get regulatory approval has been developed by the Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology.
Vector’s vaccine, dubbed “EpiVacCorona”, relies on chemically synthesized peptide antigens of SARS-CoV-2 proteins, conjugated to a carrier protein and adsorbed on an aluminum-containing adjuvant, according to details posted at ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of privately and publicly funded clinical studies conducted around the world.
Putin said that a third Russian vaccine against Covid-19, developed by the Chumakov Centre, would also be registered in the near future, Sputnik news agency reported.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said that she tested EpiVacCorona vaccine herself and experienced no side effects, said the report.
“The Vector centre is also initiating post-registration clinical trials in the various regions of Russia that would include 40,000 volunteers,” she was quoted as saying.
In a September 28 report it was stated quoting media reports that more than 3,000 people in Moscow had been vaccinated against the novel coronavirus.
“More than 3,000 volunteers have already been vaccinated against the coronavirus. None of them have problems. People feel good,” Sergey Sobyanin, the Mayor of Moscow, told Rossiya 1 TV channel on Sunday.
“I myself went through this vaccination procedure and you see — nothing happened to me, although several months have already passed”.
More than 60,000 people have applied to volunteer for the coronavirus vaccine trials in Moscow.
Sputnik V, an adenovirus vector-based vaccine, was developed by the Gamaleya Scientific Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, along with the Russian Direct Investment Fund and registered on August 11.
“Several thousand people have passed the required medical tests to be registered as potential candidates for carrying out the tests,” Sobyanin said.
The vaccine was developed on a platform that had been used for a number of other vaccines.
On August 15, the Russian Health Ministry announced the launch of the vaccine production.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Limited, a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in India, have also agreed to cooperate on clinical trials and distribution of Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in India.
“On regulatory approval in India, RDIF shall supply to Dr Reddy’s 100 million doses of the vaccine. The Sputnik V vaccine, which is based on well-studied human adenoviral vector platform with proven safety, is undergoing clinical trials for the coronavirus pandemic,” said a statement from the fund.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund said that the deliveries could potentially begin in late 2020 subject to completion of successful trials and registration of the vaccine by regulatory authorities in India.
