The studies will last between four and six months. However, this will not be an obstacle to start mass vaccination of the population, said the director of the Center for Microbiology and Epidemiology Gamaleya.
Mass vaccination in Russia against COVID-19 will begin within a month, said this Sunday (08/16/2020)
the director of the Gamaleya Center for Microbiology and Epidemiology, Alexandr
Ginzburg, who developed the first vaccine registered in the country against the
disease, the Spútnik V.
The scientist, in statements to the official Russian agency
RIA Nóvosti, indicated that in the next seven or ten days the studies after the
registration of the preparation by the Russian Ministry of Health will begin,
in which tens of thousands of people will be vaccinated.
Guinzburg pointed out that the studies will last between four
and six months, but that this will not be an obstacle to initiating the mass
vaccination of the population, which, as the country's authorities has
declared, will be voluntary.
Last Tuesday, Russian
President Vladimir Putin introduced the vaccine, dubbed "Sputnik V" in memory of the first
Soviet space satellite, and described it as safe and effective. One of her
daughters had already been treated with the vaccine, she said.
However, the final series of tests with more than 2,000
participants just started this week. Western scientists have expressed doubts
about the speed of development of their Russian colleagues at the Gamaleja
Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology in Moscow and accused them
of a lack of transparency.
Russia wants to start industrial production from September
and is already planning five million doses of vaccines per month starting in
December or January. The first thing to do is vaccinate the doctors, then the
rest of the population voluntarily. With more than 900,000 registered
coronavirus infections, Russia currently ranks fourth globally behind the
United States, Brazil, and India.