Moscow
The Russian defence ministry said on Wednesday it had developed a “safe” coronavirus vaccine following clinical trials on a group of volunteers. The ministry said 18 people had participated in the research and were discharged without “serious adverse events, health complaints, complications or side effects”.
The results of the trials “allow us to speak with confidence about the safety and good tolerability of the vaccine”, it said in a statement.
The defence ministry did not say whether the vaccine was in fact effective but a doctor working on the trials said the volunteers were now protected against the coronavirus.
“Their immunity is working well, antibodies are being created, they are protected against the coronavirus,” researcher Svetlana Volchikhina said in a video released by the defence ministry.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin during the height of the epidemic in Russia in late May that military researchers were developing a vaccine with scientists at the Gamaleya Institute in Moscow.—AFP
