Russia’s vaccination of their frontline medical workers begins next week, concurrent with their large-scale Phase 3 testing, as reported yesterday by Kirill Dmitirev. The results of the earlier clinical trials are on schedule for publication. At an online conference yesterday, Denis Logunov, the deputy director at the Gamaleya Institute that developed the Sputnik V vaccine, said that the clinical trials, up to now, show that 100% of the volunteers developed high quantities of antibodies which neutralized the virus.
A second vaccine, called EpiVacCorona, is in Phase 2 trials, expected to be completed in September. One oversight agency, the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing, reported on today that, of the first 100 volunteers, 57 had the vaccine and 43 had placebos; and that there were six reported cases of soreness at the injection site that lasted for less than two days. Otherwise, there were no side effects.
