Russia Has Developed First COVID-19 Vaccine, Says Putin

11 Aug, 2020 16:19 IST|Sakshi Post

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced that his country has developed first vaccine against the novel coronavirus. He also said that one of his daughters has already been vaccinated as part of the experiment.

Putin made the claim during a government meeting where he described it as "a very important step for the world", a Russian media report read.

"After the first vaccination, she had a body temperature of 38 degrees Celsius, while the following day it was slightly over 37 degrees Celsius, that's it. After the second injection, the second vaccination, her temperature also rose a little, and then everything cleared up, she feels good and the [antibody] titers are high,” Putin said, as was quoted by the Russian news report.

“It works quite effectively" and "forms a stable immunity," he said.

The Russian president has thanked everyone who worked on the first-ever vaccine against the coronavirus and hoped that Russia will be able to start mass production of this medication in the near future.

Health Minister Mikhail Murashko has said that the first Russian vaccine against the coronavirus will begin to be produced at two sites - the Gamaleya Research Institute and the company Binnopharm. He said that a number of countries are already showing interest in the vaccine, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) is investing in the production and promotion of the vaccine abroad.

The vaccine was developed jointly by the Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry. It has two separately-injected components that together are expected to build a long-term immunity against the virus.

Clinical trials of the vaccine kicked off on June 18 and included 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed immunity. The first group was discharged on July 15, the second group on July 20, as the media report read.

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