Has Russia Developed The World’s First COVID-19 Vaccine? The clinical trials of reportedly the world’s first coronavirus vaccine on volunteers at Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University has been successfully completed, according to Russian news agencies. The university began clinical trials of the vaccine produced by Russia’s on June 18. According to the Institute of Medical Parasitology, Tropical and Vector-Borne Diseases at Sechenov University, the study and trials focussed on the vaccine’s safety for human health, which was successfully done. Further plans to scale up production are already being discussed given the nature of the pandemic and increasing figures of infection. The other players in the COVID-19 vaccine race are Gilead Sciences, Oxford University’s researchers and American biotech company Moderna are at the forefront of developing a Covid-19 vaccine. While the antiviral remdesivir has emerged as a likely candidate for drug of choice in reducing the mortality rates worldwide, there have been cautions about the need for rigorous clinical trials to confirm its efficacy in developing a long-term solution. Big Pharma’s vaccine candidates were earlier slated to reach any fruition only by end-2020., with large-scale clinical trials to take place post regulatory approval in July. With this supposed breakthrough by the Russians, we may just see the beginning of the end of the modern-day pandemic and a return to normalcy sooner than expected.

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