MOSCOW, April 15. /TASS/. A pneumococcal vaccine may protect people against the novel coronavirus as it increases natural immunity, Alexander Chuchalin, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and President of the Russian Respiratory Society, said on Wednesday.

"I am not aware that the flu vaccine can protect against the coronavirus, however, the 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine can be capable of this. <…> It does not only improve the anti-pneumococcal immunity, it improves natural immunity," he told reporters.

Chuchalin added that the coronavirus should "fade away" in mid-June. He noted that the infection is actively spreading currently, with one person capable of infecting two or three people.

In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia.

On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic. According to the latest statistics, over 2,000,000 people have been infected worldwide and more than 126,800 deaths have been reported. In addition, so far, over 485,000 individuals have recovered from the illness across the globe.

To date, a total of 24,490 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Russia, with 1,986 patients having recovered from the virus. Russia’s latest data indicates 198 fatalities nationwide. Earlier, the Russian government set up an Internet hotline to keep the public updated on the coronavirus situation.