Russia to register world's first COVID-19 vaccine next week

After the global coronavirus cases crossed 19,000,000 on Friday morning, Russia has announced that it will be registering world's first COVID-19 vaccine.

Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko announced that the European country is expecting to start the mass production of the vaccine from October 2020. He also assured that all expenses related to the vaccine will be covered in the state budget.

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"At the moment, the last, third, stage is underway. The trials are extremely important. We have to understand that the vaccine must be safe. Medical professionals and senior citizens will be the first to get vaccinated," Deputy Health Minister Oleg Gridnev told reporters at the opening of a cancer centre building in the city of Ufa.

Gridnev also added that the effectiveness of the vaccine can be measured when the population has developed an immunity.

"We plan wider vaccinations for October," Murashko was quoted as saying. He also added that the vaccine will first be made available for doctors and teachers.

Also read: Russia preparing mass vaccination against COVID-19 for October

The clinical trials for this vaccine began on June 18 with 38 volunteers, out of which the first group of volunteers were discharged on July 15 and second group was discharged on July 20.

The vaccine, which was jointly developed by Gamaleya Research Institute and the Russian Defence Ministry, will be officially registered on August 12.

This will make Russia the first country in the world to register a COVID-19 vaccine, since the outbreak of the virus in Wuhan in December 2019.