Putin announces registration of 2nd Covid-19 vaccine
Moscow, Oct 14 (efe-epa).- Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the registration of a second Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday.
The drug is called EpiVacCorona and is being developed by the Véktor State Research Center for Virology and Biotechnology, he said during a government meeting.
Russia announced last month that it had approved the world’s first inoculation against the new coronavirus, sparking concerns from health experts about how quickly it was created and whether it had been fully tested.
Putin said that a third vaccine was also being developed by the Chumakov Institute and will enter its second phase of testing on 19 October.
The government announced that 40,000 volunteers will participate in clinical testing of EpiVacCorona, including 150 people over 60 years old.
“The appearance of the second vaccine increases the possibilities of vaccination among the population and therefore brings us closer to stabilizing and overcoming the problem of Covid-19 infection,” deputy prime minister Tatyana Golikova said.
She added that the first batch consisting of 60,000 doses will be produced soon.
Golikova said that she and Russian health chief Anna Popova have been vaccinated with EpiVacCorona and have not experienced any side effects.
“All the volunteers who took part in the first and second phases did not experience a rise in temperature,” she continued.
Russia’s first vaccine, named Sputnik V, was registered on 11 August and is currently in the third phase of trials with the preliminary results expected in October or November.
