Russia begins post-registration trials of second Covid-19 vaccine

Moscow: The post-registration trials of the "EpiVacCorona" vaccine against Covid-19 have begun in Russia, head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare Anna Popova said on Tuesday, according to a media report.

Russia became the first country to give regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine in August when Sputnik V was officially registered ahead of large-scale clinical trial.

The second Russian vaccine to get regulatory approval, dubbed EpiVacCorona, has been developed by the Vector State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology.

"We can only stop the spread (of COVID-19) through vaccination. There are enough vaccines in the world at high levels of development. Russia continues to develop and issue vaccines," Popova was quoted as saying by TASS news agency during an online symposium dedicated to Covid-19 research.

The EpiVacCorona vaccine does not contain the live virus and forms immunity due to the use of artificially synthesised peptides.

The Vector Research Centre received the approval of the Russian Health Ministry to carry out clinical trials of the vaccine on volunteers on July 24.

On July 27, the first volunteer got the vaccine shot. Popova informed earlier that the clinical trials of the vaccine had ended on September 30.

The vaccine was registered on October 14, said the report.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova had earlier said that she tested EpiVacCorona vaccine herself and experienced no side effects, according to a Sputnik news agency report last month.

"The Vector centre is also initiating post-registration clinical trials in the various regions of Russia that would include 40,000 volunteers," she was quoted as saying.