COVID-19 Vaccine Trials By Russia's Chumakov Center Proceeding Unobstructed - Official

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) The clinical trials of the whole-virion vaccine against the coronavirus, which was developed by Russia's Chumakov Federal Scientific Center, are proceeding with no complications, the center's head, Aydar Ishmukhametov, said on Monday.

The Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for the Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products is part of the Russian academy of Sciences.

"We began to conduct clinical trials in September of this year. A total of 300 people have participated in the first and second phases. The first phase has successfully ended, and now the second phase is underway, in Kirov and St. Petersburg. Our volunteers are practically healthy people who do not have immunity to COVID-19," Ishmukhametov said in an interview with the Scientific Russia portal of science news.

According to the health official, no unwanted reactions have been detected in volunteer participants of the trials so far.

"A few people had a slight fever during the first day of the vaccination, which then went away. In general, local phenomena after vaccination, as a rule, disappear within one to three days," Ishmukhametov added.

To date, Russia has officially presented two coronavirus vaccines. Several more, including the Chumakov vaccine, are underway with trials. The Sputnik V vaccine, which was registered on August 11, became the world's pioneer vaccine against COVID-19 and is currently completing phase 3 of clinical trials.