The Russians have taken the world by storm with their recent coronavirus vaccine developments. Russia’s Sechenov University on 12th July claimed that it has completed the human trials for the world’s first coronavirus vaccine. The director of the institute for Translational Medicine and Biotechnology, Dr. Vadim Tarasov added in his statement to ANI news agency that the first batch of volunteers for the trial will be discharged on wednesday and the second batch on 20 July.
The viral strain for this vaccine trial was developed by the Gamaleya Institute of Epidemiology andMicrobiology, Russia. Russian Health Ministry had authorized the coronavirus vaccine trials on June 16, and it was listed on WHO’s website on June 18. According to the director of the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-borne Diseases at Sechenov University, Dr. Alexander Lukashev, the vaccine safety is tantamount to the vaccine of other infectious diseases already in circulation in the market.
The basic objective of a human trial for the vaccine is to test the dosage of the vaccine, and the side effects it might impose on human health. In the trials for the coronavirus vaccine, the volunteers were deliberately exposed to the viral strain, and the effects in their bodies were thereby monitored. This method of vaccine development has been used for years to develop vaccines against various diseases such as cholera, typhoid, malaria, seasonal flu etc. Scientists at Sechenov University, Russia are sanguine that their human trials are successful, and that their coronavirus vaccine should be out in the market by the end of 2020.
Russia is not the only one leading from the front, when it comes to the coronavirus vaccine developments. Scientists at Gilead Sciences, Oxford and Moderna (an American Biotech company) are not far behind in the race of finding a cure for the novel coronavirus.
However, according to WHO, the Gamaleya vaccine is still under the PHASE-I of human trials wherein only 20-80 volunteers are allowed to participate. As of now, WHO has given the status of PHASE-III human trials to only the Chinese coronavirus vaccine named “Sinovac” and the vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford/AstraZeneca. In fact, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer The Serum Institute of India, claims that the world is at least 6 months away from a safe coronavirus vaccine. The Russian scientists are definitely optimistic about their vaccine trials, but they might have to hold their reins until further developments are completed.