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Coronavirus pandemic

Second stage of testing of Russian COVID-19 vaccine to conclude on August 3

The first stage went successfully

© Yegor Aleyev/TASS

MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. The first stage of testing of a Russian vaccine against the novel coronavirus developed at the N. F. Gamaleya Federal Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology went successfully, and the second stage will conclude on August 3, 2020, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) Kirill Dmitriev said during an online press conference on Thursday.

"Yesterday, the first stage of clinical testing of a Russian vaccine ended <…>, it went very successfully. The second stage of testing of the Russian vaccine will conclude on August 3," he said.

According to the RDIF, Russia will produce about 30 mln doses of COVID-19 vaccine by the end of 2020, with the required amount of 50 mln doses. The full vaccination of Russians may be complete by early 2021.

Globally, about 200 mln doses of vaccines are expected to be produced by the end of 2020. "According to predictions, next year, about 3 bln vaccines based on the adenovirus vector will be produced: not only the Russian vaccine, but the Oxford University vaccine and the Chinese vaccine as well," Dmitriev added.

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