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COVID-19 vaccine: WHO in talks with Russia on its second vaccine EpiVacCorona

The clinical trials of EpiVacCorona vaccine have been very successful, Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Anna Popova said (REUTERS) — The clinical trials of EpiVacCorona vaccine have been very successful, Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Anna Popova said **(REUTERS)**

1 min read . Updated: 16 Oct 2020, 10:10 PM IST Written By Anulekha Ray

Russia registered its second coronavirus vaccine on 14 October
Developed by Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, the EpiVacCorona vaccine completed its early stage human trials last month

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said that it had had very good dialogue with developers of a second Russian vaccine candidate against COVID-19. "We will only be able to have a position on a vaccine when we see results of the phase III clinical trials," WHO Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan told a news conference in Geneva.

Russia registered its second coronavirus vaccine on 14 October. Developed by Vector State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology, the EpiVacCorona vaccine completed its early stage human trials last month. The Vector Research Center obtained the Russian Health Ministry’s permit to conduct clinical trials of its vaccine on volunteers in July. The first volunteer was injected with the vaccine on July 27. The final group of 20 volunteers was discharged from the medical facility on September 8, according to TASS report.

"The clinical trials have been very successful. The volunteers are developing the necessary titers and no one has any clinical signs after the vaccine - neither temperature nor any other reaction," Russia’s chief sanitary doctor Anna Popova said.

The drug maker will begin Phase III trials in November-December. Nearly 30,000 volunteers will take part in post-registration trials of the coronavirus vaccine, the press service of the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing told TASS. The vaccine will be manufactured on the industrial site of the Vector research center.

"After the registration, the clinical trials are planned with the participation of volunteers of the age group of over 60 and those with chronic illnesses, as well as placebo-controlled post-registration clinical trials involving 5,000 adult volunteers of different age groups," the sanitary watchdog’s press service explained, according to TASS.

Russia had in August approved a COVID-19 vaccine, named Sputnik V, even before its final trial. The vaccine is currently undergoing final trials in Russiaon around 40,000 subjects. Sputnik V has been developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and RDIF.