Health security

 

Russia Approves 2nd Coronavirus Vaccine – Putin

Russia has approved its second coronavirus vaccine, President Vladimir Putin announced Wednesday as the peptide-based shot developed by a Siberian biotech company readies for large-scale trials.

“Novosibirsk’s Vektor [State Virology and Biotechnology Center] has registered the second Russian coronavirus vaccine today,” Putin said via televised video conference.

Putin said that Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova and the head of Russia’s consumer safety watchdog Anna Popova have both received the EpiVacCorona vaccine as part of clinical trials.

Early trials on 100 volunteers were said to have been successful.

Golikova told Putin that post-registration trials of EpiVacCorona will involve 40,000 volunteers across Russia. Vektor plans to produce the first 60,000 doses of EpiVacCorona “in the nearest future,” she added.

Health officials have so far declined to answer questions about EpiVacCorona’s initial trial results or the approval process, saying that they were reviewing the vaccine for safety and quality.

Golikova added during the video conference that a third candidate coronavirus vaccine will receive government approval sometime in December.