Russia aims to approve World’s first Covid-19 vaccine by the mid-August

Covid-19, a word can be seen as the curse for the year 2020. Due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus numerous deaths and expected exponential growth, many countries have entered into lockdown. The consequences of a virus are not only physical or financial but also psychological. However, many countries have now moved to the easing of lockdown because of the crippled economy. There are various Unlock taking form with proper guidelines to be followed. Meanwhile, there is a race between medical institutions or pharma industries in the process to be the first one to get vaccine approval. And it looks like Russia is doing well!!

Russia claims that they will be the first in the world to approve the coronavirus vaccine by the mid of August (10th August), that is, in less than two weeks. This vaccine has been created by the Moscow-based Gameleya institute. It will be approved for public use after the trials on frontline health workers. Post the first human trials on vaccine ended this week, conclusions have been made that it is safe for use and induces an immune response.

Kirill Dmitriev, who is financing the Russian vaccine research, said that It’s a Sputnik moment. Referring to the situation of the World’s first satellite launch. Americans were surprised when they saw Sputnik beeping. It’s the same with vaccines, but this time Russia wins. The hope of the vaccine is coming even closer, alive, and kicking! 

However, there is no scientific data released by Russian researchers on its vaccine testing. Therefore, unable to verify the claimed safety or effectiveness. But it will be compiled and available soon by early August. There are also some concerns about the vaccine is still in the human trials. Vaccine trials have been spread over the words in small and large portions but still, many developers are aware that there is more to be done before it can be approved. Russia is pushing its vaccine research at high levels, it has been observed that this is due to political pressure from Kremlin – who is keen to portray Russia as a global scientific force. 

While some global vaccines like Moderna have already entered its third phase trials, Russia’s vaccine is still working under the phase two trials. However, developers are positive that they will complete this phase by August 3 and immediately move to phase 3 trials in parallel with the vaccination of medical workers. Russian scientists claim that they were able to generate vaccines quickly because it is an advanced version of the already existing vaccine that fights with a similar disease. This is the same approach used by other vaccine developers.

For instance, Moderna – which is in its phase three trials, has built his coronavirus vaccine on the backbone of previous research on a similar disease known as MERS. This is the only reason how developers were able to create vaccines within months which usually takes years. However, WHO claims that there is no approved vaccine for MERS.

The vaccine helps not to replicate the virus in the body by making them weaker using human adenovirus vectors. This vaccine provides double-layer protection unlike any other vaccine, it means it is made of two vectors and patients will receive two booster shots. 

Large-vaccine trials in other countries like the US are also working on the development of vaccines rapidly but not yet reached the final stage. The University of Oxford which is at the top for the vaccine development also claims that there is still a long way to go!

On the other hand, American, Canadian, British lab researchers claim that Russian spies hacked into their labs in order to steal their vaccine development secrets. However, Kremlin denied these allegations…

Not only health workers but also Russia’s defense soldiers are volunteering in the human trials of coronavirus vaccine. Although many countries went into a global pandemic situation since mid-march, Russia had its own severe coronavirus problem and dealing with more than 800,000 confirmed cases. 

Meanwhile, Russia also plans to produce 30 million doses of coronavirus vaccine for domestic purposes and 170 million doses for international purposes, this year.