30 July,2020 07:37 AM IST | Moscow | Agencies
A waitress serves a meal in a cafe in central Moscow. File pic/AFP
Russia is rushing to win the race to develop a vaccine against the novel Coronavirus, and in the process has planned to approve by early August a vaccine that is still in the trial phase, according to a report in CNN.
The vaccine, being developed by Gamaleya Institute in Moscow, is likely to be approved for public use on August 10 and the frontline health workers will receive the shots first, the report said. "It's a Sputnik moment," CNN quoted said Kirill Dmitriev, head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund financing the vaccine research, as saying. He was referring to the successful launch of the world's first satellite by the Soviet Union in 1957.
"Americans were surprised when they heard Sputnik's beeping. It's the same with this vaccine. Russia will have got there first," he added. However, concerns have been raised about the vaccine, as Russia has not yet completed the second phase of the trial. The developers said they aim to complete the second phase by August 3, and will run the third trial along with the vaccination of the health workers.
"Our scientists focused not on being the first but on protecting people," said Dmitriev. Alexander Ginsburg, the project director, told CNN that he has already taken the vaccine shot.
10 Aug
The target date for the approval
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