If things go as planned, we might be looking at the beginning of the end of the Coronavirus pandemic. Russia, after finishing clinical trials of the Coronavirus vaccine, is planning to execute a mass vaccination campaign in October. By Kumar Shree
Russia’s local news agencies in a report on Saturday, August 1 reported that their Health Minister Mikhail Murashko is preparing to conduct a mass Coronavirus vaccination campaign in October.
A state research facility in Moscow called Gamaleya Institute has recently completed the clinical trial of an adenovirus-based COVID-19 vaccine.
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It has to now clear paperwork, and get required permits to register the vaccine, which speculations suggest, would be approved by regulators this month.
The vaccine in question made headlines for the first time last month when Russian scientists declared its success during the early-stage of trials. If the mass vaccination campaign takes place this October, doctors and teachers would be the first ones to get the doses. Murashko emphasised on this during his address to the media.
While this seems like a piece of great news, not all are happy about it. Some experts around the world are raising eyebrows over Russia’s swift approach. Some experts are even doubtful about whether the vaccine has gone through proper testing or not!
As reported by BBC, the leading infectious disease expert in the US, Dr Anthony Fauci told US lawmakers, “I do not believe there will be vaccines so far ahead of us that we will have to depend on other countries to get us vaccines.”
Countries around the world are trying to develop all kinds of possible vaccines to combat this virus. More than 20 of these are running clinical trials as on August 04, 2020.
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As per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) data, at least four out these 20 countries are in the final phase of human trials. Three out of these four are developed by China while another one has come from Britain.
In the UK, the vaccine developed by Oxford University has successfully triggered an immune response. AstraZeneca PLC, a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical company has already signed a deal for supplying 100 million doses in Britain.
Related: Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Completes Phase 1 Of Human Trials. Good News For Travellers?
