Russia says it will produce a COVID-19 vaccine next month
The Russian government is reportedly fast-tracking a questionable COVID-19 vaccine that will be put into “large-scale phase three trials this month” and distributed on a mass scale in October.
Whether or not the rushed vaccine will be effective remains a mystery, according to CNBC.
Moscow says teachers and medical professionals will be among the first tested before vaccinations are provided nationwide.
Health Minister Mikhail Murashko reportedly declared early clinical trials were complete on a vaccination that showed an immune response among those tested and had no side effects. The large scale application of the vaccine will determine whether or not the Russians have found a cure for the spreading pandemic, which has killed nearly 700,000 people.
The World Health Organization reportedly counts just over two dozen candidate vaccines to be in the early clinical trial process, but was not aware of a Russian vaccine that had entered into a late stage of development. Russia has reportedly been opaque about its development and testing of vaccines, though the nation’s health officials seemingly feel comfortable enough to move forward.
Russian Trade Minister Denis Manturov told Russian state run news agency TASS that by the start of 2021, his nation plans to produce “several million” monthly doses of a coronavirus vaccine.
U.S. director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told congress last week it was his “hope” Russians will responsibly test any potential vaccines before giving it to the public.
The Telegraph reported Saturday that Great Britain was unlikely to allow a Russian vaccine cross its borders without evidence of sound testing.
U.K. paper the Guardian warns that Russian citizens who go about their business falsely thinking they’ve been immunized while the pandemic rages could give be put at greater risk.
Fauci expects the U.S. to have a vaccine in early 2021.
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