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Russia completes clinical trials of world’s first COVID-19 vaccine: Results prove it’s safe and effective

Russia completes clinical trials of world’s first COVID-19 vaccine: Results prove it’s safe and effective
AIIMS Delhi will begin human trials of India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, from next week on 100 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55. @Shutterstock

The volunteers given the COVID-19 vaccine developed immunity to the coronavirus. The vaccine will be discharged soon, says the chief researcher.

Written by Longjam Dineshwori |Updated : July 13, 2020 10:31 AM IST

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned life upside down. But this nightmare may end soon as scientists have finally found the weapon to kill the deadly virus. Russia's Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University has completed the clinical trials of the world's first vaccine for the novel Coronavirus. The results proved that the vaccine is safe and effective, chief researcher Elena Smolyarchuk told Russian news agency TASS on Sunday. Smolyarchuk added that the vaccine will be discharged soon, but didn't provide any further information on when it would enter the commercial production stage.

The volunteers involved in the human trials will be discharged on July 15 and July 20, according to Smolyarchuk.

With this, Russia has become the first nation to complete clinical trials of potential Covid-19 vaccine on humans. Oxford University's Covid-19 vaccine candidate, which is in the third phase of clinical trials, was believed to be the most advanced project and expected to be rolled out by October. Now, the world has shifted its attention to Sechenov University.

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Volunteers develop immunity to coronavirus

Clinical trials of two forms of a potential Covid-19 vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology started on June 18. The first vaccine, which is in the form of a solution for intramuscular administration, was tested at the Burdenko Military Hospital. Another vaccine, in the form of a powder for the preparation of a solution for intramuscular administration, was tested at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.

The trials at Sechenov University involved two groups of volunteers the first test was done on 18 volunteers and the second one on 20 volunteers. All volunteers were required to stay in isolation in a hospital for 28 days after the vaccination.

The Russian Defense Ministry had earlier issued a statement announcing that the volunteers given the COVID-19 vaccine were developing immunity to the coronavirus.

"The data obtained by the Gamalei National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, proves that volunteers of the first and second groups are forming an immune response after injections of the vaccine against the coronavirus," IANS quoted the statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

Global COVID-19 vaccine race

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nearly 150 potential COVID-19 vaccines are being tested around the world and at least 21 vaccines are under key trials.

Speaking to media persons last week, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said that there will be one or more safe and efficacious vaccines by 2021. She also informed that the organization is in discussions with member-countries to develop a viable framework for the fair distribution of the vaccine.

A vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford, known as ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccine or AZD1222,was the first one to reach the final stages of clinical trials. The phase-3 trials are being conducted in hospitals in Brazil and South Africa to assess how well it works in protecting people from becoming infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Last month, project leader professor Adrian Hill had said that the results of the clinical trials may be out by August or September and the vaccine is likely to hit the market by October. British drugmaker AstraZeneca, which is working with the Oxford researchers on the project, aims to release 30 million doses of the jab if the final trails prove successful.