Russia’s Sputnik V Vaccine To Enter Final Stage Of Testing In A Week, Mass Production To Begin Soon

Russia will begin the third or final stage of testing its vaccine Sputnik V within a week. The vaccine is the world's first registered for coronavirus.

(Representative Image/Getty)

New Delhi: Russia which became the world’s first country to register a coronavirus vaccine will begin the third stage of testing within a week. According to a report by Tass news agency, Alexander Gintsburg, Director of the Gamaleya National Research Center has said that several thousand people are expected to take part in the trials of the vaccine Sputnik V. "On Monday, we will present the first version of the protocol on post-registration research. Given this great interest and attention of the public and the press, I think that the Health Ministry won’t delay the process and will approve the protocol within a week. So, I believe within seven or ten days at maximum everything will begin," said Gintsburg in the report. On Saturday Russia had announced that it will begin mass production of its vaccine by the end of this month. Gintsburg has said that production capacity will grow ‘10-fold in the coming 1.5 or 2 months’ "In the near future 3-4 more facilities will be launched and by December they will produce 4 mln-5 mln doses per month or a bit more and this will allow ensuring the necessary amount of the vaccine for the entire country for 9-12 months," said Gintsburg in a report by Tass News agency. However, he also said that there will be a delay in the vaccine for civilians Russian Health Ministry may enter production for civilian circulation a month after the launch of the third stage (post-registration) of the research. On August 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia has developed the world's first vaccine against COVID-19. He said the vaccine has been inoculated to his daughter and that it works effectively and forms a stable immunity. The vaccine has raised many safety concerns among the medical community and if it comes to India it will be looked at critically. Senior expert of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it is currently in conversation with Russia to get additional information about the Covid-19 vaccine that Russia will start production soon. Dr. Bruce Aylward, senior adviser to WHO's director-general, told a press conference on Thursday that WHO does not have sufficient information at this point to make a judgment on the Russian vaccine. He told reporters that with the coordination of WHO, there are altogether nine vaccine candidates that are going through Phase 2 or 3 trials, but the Russian vaccine is not one of them.