MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. Russian scientists develop a coronavirus vaccine that could be administered as a dairy product, Russian Academy of Sciences Vice President Vladimir Chekhonin said Tuesday at the Academy board meeting.
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.
"The gene that codes the coronavirus’s S-protein is a target for cloning. As a result, the gene is introduced to the area that codes probiotic bacteria pili, creating a bacterium with an immunogenic viral protein on its surface. Such a vaccine could be administered as a dairy product. This vaccine currently undergoes pre-clinical testing," Chekhonin said.
According to the latest statistics, over 6,383,800 people have been infected worldwide and more than 377,700 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 2,920,880 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.
To date, a total of 423,741 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 186,985 patients having recovered from the disease. Russia’s latest data indicates 5,037 fatalities nationwide.