Russian defence ministry declares coronavirus vaccine safe; volunteers discharged

Russian Defence Ministry on July 15 said that it had successfully conducted a 'safe' clinical trial of the coronavirus vaccine that it had developed together with the National research center for epidemiology and microbiology.

According to the ministry's official website, the clinical trials were successfully conducted on a group of 18 volunteers, who were discharged today from the branch of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Burdenko. The volunteers underwent a control examination and passed a blood test to study the development of an immune response before they were discharged.

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"During the tests, the volunteers were under the constant supervision of medical specialists of the Main Military Clinical Hospital named after Burdenko, who conducted daily examinations of volunteers, measured blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature, studied the condition of mucous membranes, skin integuments and other indicators, carried out the whole range of laboratory and instrumental studies provided by the test protocol and necessary to study the intensity of the immune response," the ministry said in a release on Wednesday. 

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The ministry further added that available laboratory and instrumental studies allow them to confirm the 'safety' and 'good tolerance' of the potential vaccine.

The test participants will have to report back to the hospital on the 42nd day of the first vaccination, where they will undergo a final medical examination and diagnosis for one day and necessary documents will be prepared. However, the ministry in its release did not talk about the effectiveness of the vaccine. 

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Video conferencing with Putin

Russian Defence Minister Gen. Sergei Shoigu during a video conference with President Vladimir Putin on May 26 had informed him about the development of a vaccine by the Russian Armed Forces together with the scientists at the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow. The Russian health ministry on June 16 issued a permit to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine on volunteers at the Burdenko main military clinical hospital.

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(Image Credit: AP)