According to media reports, Russia wants to start the first mass vaccination campaign against the corona virus in October. The state research institute Gamaleja in Moscow has completed clinical trials with the vaccine, Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said today, according to the Interfax news agency. The application for admission is being prepared.
Doctors and teachers should be vaccinated first. „We are planning broader vaccinations for October,“ Murashko was quoted as saying. The RIA news agency also reported. So far there is no vaccine against the virus.
Worldwide, more than 100 possible vaccines are being worked on feverishly. At least four of these are in final Phase III human studies, including three vaccine candidates in China and one in the UK, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Prestige over security?
Reuters recently learned from an insider that the Russian authorities plan to approve the first vaccine in August. Shortly thereafter, it should first be made available to healthcare workers. But the pace at which Russia wants to bring the vaccine to the market has raised the question abroad of whether Moscow places national prestige above science and security.
After the United States, Brazil and India, Russia has the most cases of infection worldwide. The number of infections rose by 5,462 to 845,443 within 24 hours, the authorities said. The new infections have remained below the 6,000 mark since July 20. The number of deaths increased by 95 to 14,058.
