Don’t Miss Out on the Latest Updates.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter Today!
The novel coronavirus has been keeping scientists on their toes since the outbreak started in China last December. The virus has affected millions of people worldwide and already claimed about 686,703 lives as per the latest WHO report. While more than 160 research groups across the world are working on finding a potential vaccine to contain the pandemic, Russian scientists have finally discovered the weak spot of the novel coronavirus. Take a pause and drink a glass of normal or warm water before you read this article further.
According to a Russian news agency report, a research team from Russia's VECTOR State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Novosibirsk, Siberia has found that room temperature water can stop the growth of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
In a study, the researchers found that room temperature water could kill 90 per cent particles of the coronavirus in a span of 24 hours, while 99.9 per cent died in 72 hours. Further, it was found that boiling water could kill the novel coronavirus immediately and completely.
The team also found that while the coronavirus was able to survive in chlorinated water and seawater for some time, it did not multiply, the agency report stated.
Overall, the researchers concluded that the lifespan of the novel coronavirus is directly depended on the temperature of the water.
There is a competition among countries to be the first to bring out the cure for COVID-19 and Russia has been making big strides in the race. Recently Russian media reported that the country's health authorities are preparing to start a mass vaccination campaign against the novel coronavirus in October, beginning with frontline workers, including doctors and teachers.
Quoting the country's Health Minister Mikhail Murashko, the report stated that Moscow's Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology had completed clinical trials of a COVID-19 vaccine and it is expected to be approved by regulators this month itself.
The preliminary trials of the adenovirus-based vaccine had been completed last month, with Russian scientists claiming it to be safe and effective. It looks like Russia will release the vaccine without finishing the phase-3 human trials, which would be carried out simultaneously.
Phase 3 trials of the vaccine were scheduled to begin from Aug. 3 in Russia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Russia launched clinical trials of two forms of a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology on June 18. The first one, which is in the form of a solution for intramuscular administration, was tested at the Burdenko Military Hospital, while another in the form of a powder was tested at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University. As part of the trials at Sechenov University, two groups of volunteers were administered the vaccine and kept in isolation in a hospital for 28 days.
In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the volunteers given the COVID-19 vaccine were developing immunity to the coronavirus.
Russia is planning to produce 30 million doses of its first Covid-19 vaccine domestically in 2020, and 170 million abroad. According to Kirill Dmitriev, the chief executive of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), five countries have already expressed interest in producing the vaccine.