Amid Covid-19, Russian schools re-open with masks, class limit precautions

To prevent another spike in cases, all teachers underwent mandatory virus tests before primary and secondary schools re-opened on 1 September. Temperature checks are conducted each morning and and school schedules were amended to reduce the number of students attending at the same time.

Authorities also limited how many children can be together in school cafeterias and recreation areas is also limited.

Masks in schools are not mandatory for all of Russia's 85 regions, though some provinces are requiring both students and teachers to wear them. Children with a classmate who tests positive for the coronavirus will be quarantined for two weeks.

Parents have the option of keeping their children home to continue studying online.

The update comes in the backdrop that Russia earlier announced that it has successfully fast-tracked its recently launched Sputnik V vaccine and is most likely to release the vaccine for civilian use soon, according to a report.

Sputnik V Covid vaccine, which is developed by Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology under the Russian Health Ministry, may be granted permission to release a batch of its vaccine for civilian use, the institute’s deputy director for research, said associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Denis Logunov, according to a report.

A Phase III trial is a large-scale one involving thousands of people - in Russia, 40,000 - over a longer stretch of time.

Three Moscow outpatient clinics have received the first batch of a covid vaccine against the coronavirus for post-registration trials, news agency TASS reported, citing Deputy Moscow Mayor Anastasia Rakova. Moscow residents can apply to participate in the study and be the first to obtain the vaccine, the deputy mayor said.

On August 11, Russia became the first country to license a Covid-19 vaccine, calling it "Sputnik V" in homage to the world's first satellite, launched by the Soviet Union. But western experts have warned against its use until all internationally approved testing and regulatory steps have been taken. The vaccine is undergoing Phase 3 trials.

The vaccine vaccine produced an antibody response in all participants in early-stage trials, according to results published earlier by The Lancet medical journal that were hailed by Moscow as an answer to its critics.

The results of the two trials, conducted in June-July this year and involving 76 participants, showed 100% of participants developing antibodies to the new coronavirus and no serious side effects, The Lancet said.

This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.