The level of protection provided by the Russian coronavirus vaccine reaches 97%, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at his annual press conference.
"Russia turned out to be the first country in the world that invented, so to speak, and started producing the vaccine - both the Gamaleya Research Center and the Novosibirsk Vector Center. And we have a good vaccine: it is both safe and effective: more than 95 percent, under 96-97 percent protection, according to experts," said the President.
The coronavirus vaccine, which the Russian Federation registered as the first in the world on August 11, is called Sputnik V. The drug was developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology. Post-registration studies of the drug began in Moscow on September 7, and the first vaccine was given to the volunteers on September 9. A total of 40,000 people took part in the program, 10,000 of whom received the placebo.
On July 24, the Vector Center received approval from the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine on volunteers. They were completed on September 30. On October 14, Putin announced that the Vector Center vaccine had received a registration certificate. On November 16, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation gave the center permission to conduct post-registration trials of the Epivakkorona vaccine against the coronavirus on volunteers over 60 years old, and on November 18 - for trials on 3,000 volunteers.
Collaboration with AstraZeneca
Putin expressed confidence in the good outcome of Russia's cooperation with the AstraZeneca pharmaceutical company on the coronavirus vaccine. Earlier AstraZeneca pharmacological company announced the beginning of the research program in cooperation with Gamaleya Research Center, RDIF and R-Pharm on the combination of its own coronavirus vaccine and the Russian drug Sputnik V. In turn, the RDIF reported that clinical trials of the AstraZeneca vaccine combination with the human adenovirus vector Ad26 "Sputnik V" would begin before the end of this year.
"Our foreign colleagues, thank God, have also turned their faces to us and are ready to cooperate where something does not work out for them. AstraZeneca, an Anglo-Swedish company, is ready to work with us and is now signing an agreement to that effect. And it is very good, it is very good when specialists at such a high level, when they join forces with Russian partners I am sure that the result will be very good not only for our citizens but for the whole world, "- he said at the annual press conference on Thursday.
Supplying components of domestic vaccines against the coronavirus to other countries will have no effect on mass vaccination in the country, but will also help improve the quality of the drug itself, Putin said. "As for cooperation with other countries - precisely because it takes time to build up the technological capabilities of our enterprises to produce the vaccine itself, nothing prevents us from producing the components of this vaccine, which we have enough, at sites in foreign countries that will invest their money in expanding these facilities and purchasing the corresponding equipment. This will in no way hinder the vaccination of the population in the Russian Federation, on the contrary, they honestly say, it will even improve the final quality of the products, since it will become more and more widespread," he said.
The president has previously set the task to organize vaccination throughout the country. As Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin added, vaccination should be completely voluntary and free of charge. Teachers, doctors and social workers should be the first to receive the vaccine. At the same time, the regions can expand this list. According to Mishustin, the regions will get 480 thousand doses of vaccine in December. The Ministry of Health has already formed a schedule for distribution throughout the country.
More than 1.2 billion doses of the Sputnik V vaccine have been requested by more than 50 countries. The vaccine will be produced by international partners of the Russian Direct Investment Fund in India, Brazil, China, Korea and other countries.
Two domestic vaccines against the coronavirus have been registered in Russia: one developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Russian Ministry of Health and the other by the State Scientific Center of Virology and Biotechnology "Vector" of Rospotrebnadzor. A third vaccine created by the M.P. Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiological Preparations of the Russian Academy of Sciences may be registered soon.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: sputnikvaccine.com
Based on materials from TASS