Russia’s vaccine which was developed by the Gamaleya research institute and the defence ministry, is among the 28 in clinical evaluation, but is listed by WHO as only being in Phase 1
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) mentioned that it was looking forward to reviewing clinical trials of a potential coronavirus vaccine developed in Russia.
President Vladimir Putin declared on Tuesday that Russia is the first country to establish an approval of a vaccine, despite final stage testing that will involve more than 2,000 people to start on Wednesday.
The WHO also mentioned that 28 of more than 150 potential vaccines are currently being in test on humans, and among which six have gotten to Phase 3, which is the final stage when candidate drugs are put to test on large groups of people.
“WHO is in touch with Russian scientists and authorities, and looks forward to reviewing details of the trials,” the United Nations health agency said in a statement.”
“WHO welcomes all advances in COVID-19 vaccine research and development.”
The WHO added that the involvement of the organisation in guiding and accelerating research and development efforts have been since January.
“Accelerating vaccine research should be done following established processes through every step of development, to ensure that any vaccines that eventually go into production are both safe and effective,” it said.
“Any safe and effective pandemic vaccine will be a global public good, and WHO urges rapid, fair and equitable access to any such vaccines worldwide.”
