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Russia’s ‘yoghurt’ vaccine triggers immune response in animals during trials

However, the vaccine’s efficacy against the living virus is yet to be proven

ST. PETERSBURG, December 8. /TASS/. The trials of a Russian coronavirus vaccine that could be administered as a dairy product demonstrated that it helps to develop immune response in lab animals, a Russian microbiologist told reporters on Tuesday at a TASS news conference.

"We work primarily with animals <…> Unlike other vaccines currently in development by our colleagues, ours is administered orally and stimulates maximum immune response in mucosal tissues, that is why it is called mucosal. Lab animals demonstrated a very good immune response, with specific antibodies detected in both mucosal tissues and blood," said Alexander Suvorov, the head of the Department of Molecular Microbiology at the St. Petersburg-based Institute of Experimental Medicine.

According to Suvorov, the vaccine helps to produce specific T-cells that can kill a coronavirus-infected cell.

"This is a very important component of an effective vaccine, and our vaccine has it," the Russian scientist said.

However, the vaccine’s efficacy against the living virus is yet to be proven. According to Suvorov, researchers currently have no opportunity to test it, because trials involving exposure to the active pathogen can be carried out only at special facilities, and all of them are currently occupied.

"At the moment, we are queueing," the scientist said.

Russian Academy of Sciences Vice President Vladimir Chekhonin said at the Academy board meeting this summer that Russian scientists were developing a coronavirus vaccine that could be administered as a dairy product. The research is conducted by the scientists from the Institute of Experimental Medicine (St. Petersburg), he said. The vaccine is a mucosal one, administered orally, usually as an aerosol or instillation. The antigens in these vaccines are usually contained in microcapsules that protect them from digestive enzymes.