admin GENEVA: According to a WHO spokesman stated on Tuesday, The World Health Organization (WHO) and Russian health authorities are discussing the process for possible WHO prequalification for its newly approved COVID-19 vaccine.
President Vladimir Putin informed on Tuesday that Russia had become the first country in the world to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine after less than two months of human testing, a move hailed by Moscow as evidence of its scientific prowess.
“We are in close contact with Russian health authorities and discussions are ongoing with respect to possible WHO prequalification of the vaccine, but again prequalification of any vaccine includes the rigorous review and assessment of all required safety and efficacy data,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic spoke a U.N. briefing in Geneva, referring to clinical trials, according to Reuters.
Russia’s first coronavirus vaccine is made by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry.
Clinical trials of the vaccine started on June 18 with 38 volunteers. All of the participants developed immunity. The first group was discharged on July 15 and the second group on July 20.
Putin’s declaration for a Covid-19 vaccine came in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic that has infected 20+ million people and killed nearly 750,000 worldwide, so crippling world economies. The president requested Health Minister Mikhail Murashko to keep him updated about the Covid-19 vaccine, while at the same time noting that he knows “it works quite effectively” and “forms a stable immunity”, according to Russian news agencies.
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