The health ministry of Russia is preparing a mass vaccination campaign against the deadly novel coronavirus or COVID-19 for October, as reported by a local news agency on Saturday, after the completion of vaccine clinical trials.
The Health Minister Mikhail Murashkomentioned that the Gamaleya Institute, which is a state research facility in Moscow, had finished the clinical trials of the vaccine and the paperwork is currently getting ready to register it, as reported by the Interfax news agency.
COVID-19 Vaccination in Russia
The minister stated that the doctors and teachers are going to get vaccinated first. "We plan wider vaccinations for October," he was quoted as saying by the Hindusthan Times. According to a Reuters' source, the potential vaccine is going to secure local regulatory approval in August and will be administered to health workers soon after.
But the speed at which the European country is moving with the vaccine has raised many questions around the world about the safety of the virus. Kirill Dmitriev, who is the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, stated that the nation's success in developing the vaccine is similar like the world's first satellite, Sputnik 1 launched by the country.
COVID-19 Crisis
The country has reported more than 5,462 new cases of the coronavirus on Saturday and 95 more deaths taking the total number of cases in the country to 845,443. Currently, more than 100 possible vaccines of the coronavirus are getting developed around the world and are at different stages of trials. Scientists are working at war-like speed to find a cure for the disease, which has devastated the world in recent times.
The virus outbreak is spreading like wildfire and has infected more than 17.6 million people globally claiming the lives of over 679,000 people worldwide. The US is the worst affected nation followed by Brazil and India. According to experts, an effective vaccine is expected to be ready by the first quarter of 2021.
