Russian university successfully completes trials of world's first COVID-19 vaccine

Moscow : In a first, Russia has successfully completed clinical trials of COVID-19 vaccine on humans, and the results have proven the medication's effectiveness, according to media reports.

Chief researcher Elena Smolyarchuk of Sechenov University, told Russian news agency that the human trials for the vaccine have been completed at the university and they will be discharged soon.

The university began clinical trials of the vaccine produced by Russia's Gamalei Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology on June 18. 

According to Alexander Lukashev, the director of the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases at Sechenov University, the objective of this stage of the study was to show the vaccine's safety for human health, which was successfully done. 

"The safety of the vaccine is confirmed. It corresponds to the safety of those vaccines that are currently on the market," Lukashev added.

The further vaccine development plan is already being determined by the developer's strategy, including the complexity of the epidemiological situation with the virus and the possibility of scaling up production, Lukashev added.

"Sechenov University in a pandemic situation acted not only as an educational institution but also as a scientific and technological research center that is able to participate in the creation of such important and complex products as drugs. We worked with this vaccine, starting with preclinical studies and protocol development, and clinical trials are currently underway," he noted.

(With inputs from agency.)