Coronavirus vaccine trials completed in Russia

In Moscow, Sechenov University completed tests of the world's first coronavirus vaccine on volunteers. This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the director of the Institute of Translational Medicine and Biotechnology of the university, Vadim Tarasov.

According to him, clinical trials began on June 18. The vaccine was developed by specialists from the N. F. Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. It is planned that the first group of volunteers will be discharged from the hospital on July 15, the second on July 20. Doctors will observe how their immunity behaves.

Before the start of clinical trials, volunteers were examined and checked for the absence of antibodies to coronavirus. They were then isolated for two weeks to prevent infection. After this, the scientists carried out immunization.

Tarasov noted that isolation due to coronavirus had a negative impact on the psyche of volunteers. During the study, conflicts occurred, the experiment participants had emotional stress, and psychologists helped them.

In May, the director of the National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology named after N. F. Gamaleya of the Ministry of Health, Alexander Gintsburg, said that employees had successfully tested a vector vaccine against COVID-19 on themselves. We are talking about a vaccine developed at the center based on adenovirus DNA with an integrated gene for the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.

The Association of Clinical Research Organizations said that conducting these trials is a gross violation of the fundamentals of conducting clinical research. Experts noted that before the tests on the center’s employees, the ministry’s permission to conduct a clinical trial was not issued, and there were no results of examination of documents and ethical examination.