Russia conducted a trial of a COVID-19 vaccine between June and July 2020. However, there was no public announcement in the West we know of. The researchers administered doses to 38 volunteers aged 18 to 60. But there was no control group, the subjects knew what they were doing and there were no serious side effects. Every one of them developed antibodies. This is what we do know about the Russian vaccine in headline terms.
But There Is Much We Don’t Know About the Russian Vaccine
Russia announced it approved the COVID-19 vaccine on August 11, 2020 for the first time. However, we don’t have many details concerning the two adenovirus vectors the Gamaleya National Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow developed. Moreover, we don’t know about any pre-testing prior to administering the vaccine to the 38 volunteers.
But what we do know about the Russian vaccine is President Vladimir Putin was confident enough to proceed to stage two trials. This involved 76 participants who all produced a strong immune response according to Lancet. Mild side effects included pain at injection site (58%), hyperthermia (50%), headache (42%), asthenia (28%), and muscle and joint pain (24%)
Third Stage of Trials While Orders Start Rolling in
Now Lancet has reported a third stage of the trials. This time a total 40,000 people in Russia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, and possibly India or Brazil will participate. A report in Tass News Service published August 26, 2020 says 2 million doses are destined for Kazakhstan.
According to a BBC report published September 5, 2020 ,the Russian vaccine uses adapted strains of the adenovirus. This is the virus usually triggering the common cold. That summarizes what we do know about the Russian vaccine at the time of writing. However one thing is still confusing us.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has said ‘I know [the vaccine]works quite effectively, helps to develop strong immunity, and has gone through all the necessary tests’. However, Lancet Respiratory Medicine believes more time is needed before releasing the vaccine, just in case. We’ll leave it there for you to reconcile these two opinions.
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Preview Image: Gam-COVID-Vac Vials
