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Coronavirus pandemic

Chumakov Center to discuss with WHO yellow fever vaccine supplies, CoviVac approval

According to Aidar Ishmukhametov, the center filed an application with the WHO for CoviVac’s assessment and its subsequent inclusion in the EUL in April 2021

MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. Russia’s Chumakov Center expects a visit to Moscow by representatives of the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the Vaccine Alliance (GAVI), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the first half of 2022 to discuss issues of the expansion of the production and supplies of the Russian yellow fever vaccine, as well as prospects for the approval of the CoviVac coronavirus vaccine for international use, Aidar Ishmukhametov, the Center’s director, told TASS on Friday.

"Our Center has been certified by the World Health Organization and since 2009 has been carrying out mass supplies of the yellow fever vaccine developed by our researchers to the endemic pockets of this infection via UN agencies under international immunization programs. The Center is Russia’s only manufacturer of vaccines attested by the WHO," he noted.

"As part of the implementation of the post-attestation liabilities, we expect a joint monitoring visit by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to discuss technical aspects of the expansion of the production of the yellow fever vaccine for the UN needs, the COVID-19 pandemic impact on the efficiency of vaccination against other infections, and prospects for the WHO’s approval of the CoviVac vaccine for international use," he added,

According to Ishmukhametov, the center filed an application with the WHO for CoviVac’s assessment and its subsequent inclusion in the Emergency Use Listing (EUL) in April 2021. Now, the Center is conducting additional clinical tests of the vaccine in volunteers aged older than 60.

"Testing of the vaccine’s safety and efficacy in this age group is among the requirements of the WHO evaluation procedure (Considerations for evaluation of COVID-19 vaccines v25112020). When the tests are over, the report will be referred to the WHO and the evaluation procedure will be continued," he explained.

The Chumakov Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immune and Biological Products was created on the basis of the Institute of Poliomyelitis and Virus Encephalitis of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences. Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences Mikhail Chumakov was the Institute’s founder and first director (until 1972). Today the Chumakov Center is a leading world research organization in the sphere of medical virology.

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